Puzzle: AA and LAN flying in formation MIA-LIM
 

Hi all,
I recently flew the overnight LAN flight from MIA-LIM on LAN in J. It was quite a pleasant experience, with a lie flat seat, duvet, and all the fixings. What I can't understand is why anyone would purchase a J ticket on the AA overnight flight MIA-LIM, which is scheduled to depart and arrive at exactly the same times (23:55-04:30) but is flown on a 757 with domestic FC seats. Blecchh!

Can someone explain the thought process within Oneworld to me, having two flights in the alliance flying essentially wingtip to wingtip on this route (and return), when there is for example no service at all DFW-LIM?

Thanks,
saunders111

Capacity? If they can fill two flights with good profit margins and don't have access to larger aircraft then why not?

QF and BA fly nose to tail between SYD and LHR via BKK.

Not any more. BA now flies LHR-BKK, and QF SYD-BKK.
On the LHR-SIN-SYD route there are some flights like this.

All comes down to what approvals they have - eg the AA/BA JVs , or the QF/BA JSAs - otherwise agreed scheduling may be deemed anti-competitive.

Finally might be the only times that work due to scheduling, curfews, use of aircraft overnight before domestic peaks.

SIN, not BKK.

oneworld has 4 flights between LHR and SIN. one stops in SIN, 2 go to SYD and the other goes to MEL. From SIN, all 4 depart SIN in the same hour block, from LHR, all 4 depart within a 2 hour block.

SIN-LHR
BA12 2255-5000+1
QF09 2305-0540+1 from MEL
BA16 2325-0530+1 from SYD
QF01 2359-0635+1 from SYD

LHR-SIN
BA11 2025-1615+1
BA15 2115-1705+1 to SYD
QF02 2130-1730+1 to SYD
QF10 2230-1840+1 to MEL

They are marketing alliance partners not business partners. AFAIK there in no JV between LA and AA and they therefore are competitors on this route.
Some AA frequent flyers may want to use their upgrades, which may not be done on the LA flight, while others just do not know better....or have had the wonderful LA ground experience when things go wrong:td:

better price for lower quality?

There are 2 B757 configurations on that route. One is domestic F, the other is international business class.

LAN is not always warm and fuzzy either. Flew with my parents JFK-LIM-SCL on LAN back in February and 3 out of 4 business seats were broken.

For connecting passengers there may be a separate calculus. Connections at MIA between AA and LA were not easy for us last year --- we recall it being a long hike between concourses, and our connecting baggage was mishandled/delayed (despite a >2 hour connection at MIA). Also the computer hand-offs between LA and AA were poor from a passenger's perspective. I agree totally re the superior LAN inflight experience in J, but for some connecting passengers it just might not be worth the hassles.

Capacity.

6 flights (4 OW) leave for LHR from HKG in the space of an hour, all almost always full. You might say why would anyone take the VS flight when they could be on BA, or better still CX?

Both NRT-SYD oneworld flights (one QF, one JL) leave NRT within 40 minutes of each other, both overnight.
QF and JL codeshare between Japan and Australia via SIN, but they aren't allowed to codeshare on the non stop flights. The JL flight turns around in SYD and goes back to NRT during the day. The QF flight sits in NRT all day to fly each direction overnight.

It would be nice if QF and JL got ATI and the QF flight turned around in NRT for a day flight and night flight in both directions between the two airlines.

I can remember seeing AA and BA flights ORD-LHR that left not one right after another, but at the same exact time. I didn't think it was weird because of the capacity, but rather because of the confusion it caused as lots of BA passengers were on BA operated by AA and vice versa.

There are plenty of practical reasons like fast connections in Miami & Lima (airports eg in Cusco and important mining towns are open only during the daytime), efficient use of aircrafts and being able to avoid fog-related diversions.

As the OP states, AA uses a domestic-configured aircraft (business class recliner seats with 42" pitch) on that route.

Other potential reasons:

1. Corporate contracts
2. Xenophobic/protectionist/close-minded customers
3. Uninformed customers
4. Lower price [see point 1, tours, groups, etc.]
5. Travel agencies/agents get overrides/prizes etc. for selling one airline

And yes, AA and LA/LP don't have anti-trust immunization, so they CANNOT coordinate/collude on the route.

Why does AA fly MIA-LIM even though LP already serves the route, and not DFW-LIM? Obviously because it thinks it can make more money doing so (note: you need to keep in mind the overall optimization of fleet utilization when calculating this).

Codeshare or LAN
 

Hi, FTers,
Forgive me if this has been asked and answered, but I couldn't find anything, so:
Do AA and LAN still operate separate 11:55p flights from MIA-LIM?
I just took advantage of LAN's Cyber Monday deal (10% off) for two roundtrip economy-class tix from MIA-LIM in May. I'm booked on LA6706, which LAN's site clearly states is marketed AND operated by LAN. However, when I look up that flight No. on flightstats etc., it says it's a codeshare operated by AA, Flight 2153.
I really hoped to get on an actual LAN flight, based mostly on the comments here. Since I have no status with LAN, they automatically put us in the back of the plane, row 34, with no option to change seats. (I guess what I'm saying is, I wouldn't mind being on a new-to-me airline in the back of the bus, but I'd be kinda annoyed being in the back of an AA 757 when I could have had my pick of premium seats for a few bucks more if I just booked thru AA.)
Curious if the two airlines both fly equipment leaving at 11:55, or if it's just one codeshare flight, or if 6706/2153 is codeshare now but may be going back to two separate flights next year.
Thanks in advance for any insight y'all can offer.
EB