American and Alaska Airlines Announce Customer Enhancements and Joint Venture Agreements

American Airlines allows Alaska Airlines to join its transatlantic and transpacific joint ventures. After American planned to fly long-haul routes from Seattle years ago and Alaska's short-haul connections ultimately failed, Alaska merged with Hawaiian. American is now fighting to strengthen the relationship through this, and the CEO previously hinted at still merging in April. Beyond merger potential, the deal means more trans-oceanic offerings for customers of both carriers, and American will start flying 2x daily from New York (JFK) to Seattle. For the airlines, it means more route possibilities because a failed route is shared rather than fully their own.

American has been making improvements beyond that. They are now adding Starlink Wi-Fi to their 787 and 777 aircraft, meaning faster, free Wi-Fi. They just announced points-and-cash booking for customers. They also announced that they have automatic seat changes- meaning if you want a further forward seat, you can set it up to automatically move you forward if available. They now have more complimentary snacks, including branded food like Goldfish. To supplement this, they improved Admirals Club food and opened Flagship First Dining to Business Class customers to Europe, Asia, South America, and the Middle East.

Alaska is really making moves. On their 25+ Boeing 737 MAX 10s on order, they are getting lie-flat seats. These aircraft will fly 4-7-hour routes, and high-paying customers at the front make up a large portion of the revenue. They are adding a business-class lounge to enhance the experience.