A little more than a year ago, Taiwan’s Starlux Airlines and American Airlines initiated an interline agreement, representing the most fundamental degree of collaboration between airlines. Recently, they have broadened this alliance to include a codeshare agreement, enabling the airlines to place their “code” on each other’s flights, thereby promoting the flights of the counterpart airline. This progress is an advancement from an interline agreement, which mainly ensures effortless travel for passengers by permitting them to purchase tickets that encompass flights on both airlines and enables their baggage to be checked through to their ultimate destination.
The new codeshare agreement allows American Airlines to add its code to Starlux flights connecting Taipei (TPE) with various U.S. locations, such as Los Angeles (LAX), Ontario (ONT), San Francisco (SFO), and Seattle (SEA). Notably, the Phoenix (PHX) route is not included at the outset. On the other hand, Starlux can apply its code to domestic American flights departing from Los Angeles and Phoenix.
While this codeshare agreement boosts collaboration, it does not automatically ensure loyalty program reciprocity, which remains to be seen. Nevertheless, considering Starlux’s current partnership with Alaska Airlines, which includes frequent flyer reciprocity, there is potential for similar developments with American Airlines.
Starlux has shown interest in becoming part of the oneworld alliance, aligning with industry trends as other major Taiwanese airlines, China Airlines and EVA Air, belong to different global alliances. However, Cathay Pacific reportedly opposes Starlux’s admission to oneworld, adding complexity to the situation.
American Airlines’ limited network in Asia and its transpacific joint venture with Japan Airlines, which facilitates routing traffic through Japan, contribute further to the complexity. Despite these hurdles, the codeshare agreement highlights American’s initiative to enhance its offerings in the Pacific and provide customers with additional travel choices.
In summary, while the codeshare agreement between Starlux and American Airlines marks a notable advancement, the future of loyalty reciprocity is still in question. Starlux’s desire to join oneworld is challenged by Cathay Pacific’s resistance, but there is optimism for further collaboration that could benefit the frequent flyers of both airlines.