ProfRB

Think about JFK-SCL-AKL!

moondog

I guess we've always known that some (alliance) members are more equal than others.

kop84

I doubt MIA is going anywhere for AA. MIA has a slightly higher population than ATL. Its obviously not as well suited for domestic connections, but it's still the best strategic hub for much of Latin America. They may face some more pressure from DL/LA but if they decide to de-hub MIA because they lost a partner carrier, then DP should be fired before the ink dries on that memo.

pbarnette

I agree that MIA ain’t going anywhere and is the premier South American hub (I don’t think it as comparatively well-positioned for Mexico), both by geography as well as economic and cultural ties. But, I do think the poor positioning as a domestic hub hurts. Also, Atlanta is a slightly smaller market by population but is a fair bit wealthier.

Eastbay1K

However, there's a lot of $ from Latin America parked in and around MIA, from second homes, to bank accounts, and what not, not to mention that for whatever reason, it is a big vacation and shopping destination for those from South America.

beachmouse

Shopping-wise, there are a lot of things that are cheap and easy to find in the USA that are extremely expensive or impossible to find back home, and it's not just luxury goods either- seems common for the folks I know with South American relatives to end up making big shopping stops at places like Walmart and Target when their extended family is in town.

And in terms of real estate, South Florida has long been a 'safe haven' for affluent folks from somewhat unstable places in the region who wanted a good place to land if conditions at home got weird. It's the same human movement later seen with Hong Kong residents moving to Vancouver when they were concerned about the changeover or affluent Russians who decided it would be good to have a nice little flat in London.

cmd320

I actually think AA’s Miami presence is going to suffer a bit from this. Ever since the US merger it has been clear that the USAir management team was not very qualified in managing the Miami operation. Domestic services have suffered as those passengers are now forced to connect at the cheaper CLT or PHL hubs. AA makes it very difficult for Florida customers to continue to want to use MIA as a domestic transfer hub. Premium transcon routes to LAX and SFO have seen their services and equipment rolled back significantly. Both routes are now dominated by standard domestic equipment where in the past they saw multiple 777 and 767 lie flats. I think at this point there is only one 3-class 77W service on MIA-LAX left and even this is sometimes intermittent. AA seems to be losing a lot of its premium customers which isn’t overly surprising as the product and operation continuously seem to fall short of the competition these days.

This however is a massive blow to AA not only in Miami but as a whole. At one point AA basically owned Latin America and the Caribbean. Those days are long gone and this further proves that the current management team is not only completely reactive and unqualified to manage such a large airline but that they’re now losing major players to competitors because of a lack of oversight in their own operation.

This is a great addition for DL and while LATAM isn’t up to the level of quality that LAN was before it merged with TAM, it’s still by most metrics the best overall product offered in South America.

pbarnette

The London thing is more than a safe haven. London is actually a tax haven for foreign residents.

BenA

Thought of the day: TAM was originally in Star Alliance, then joined OneWorld with the LAN merger. Now, there's a reasonable chance that LATAM could join SkyTeam eventually, even if at first they merely align with Delta.

I believe this would make LATAM the first airline that's been part of all three major alliances. There are certainly plenty of moves (FM to *A>ST, CO ST>*A, US *A>OW), but changing alliance twice is entirely unprecedented...

jrl767

yeah, at least 950k miles one way in D1 ...

fliesdelta

Yes, I know, but I don't have status with AA (or any OW airline). I'd rather use DL/ST.

Sonny84

It seems they will quit WO before October 2020

Sonny84

HI BenA, they already said they won't join sky team or any other alliance.
Probably they will make specific agreements with some carriers.

MSPeconomist

They could just be posturing until they see whether SkyTeam will admit them and on what terms.

iansltx

I won't complain if DL decides to connect all hubs and focus cities to MIA as part of this deal. They're already the #2 airline in MIA...and United has a significantly smaller share...so by adding some flights in they could, combined with LATAM, probably bump their traffic share to 20%, at the expense of AA.

That said, the only route I care about (AUS-MIA) isn't exactly high-yield already (BE goes for $250 RT) so the more likely scenario I see is LATAM moving frequencies from MIA to ATL based on connecting traffic, leaving just enough service to satisfy O&D needs. Given that AA only serves ~55 US destinations nonstop from MIA, connecting folks over ATL would be a win for everyone except folks in Miami.