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American Airways' AAdvantage loyalty program is about to get a little bit larger with the addition of South American price range service JetSmart.
JetSmart CEO Estuardo Ortiz mentioned Tuesday on the Routes America convention in Bogota, Colombia, that the Chilean airline will undertake AAdvantage as its personal loyalty program later this yr. As soon as accomplished, any traveler on JetSmart flights will have the ability to earn or redeem AAdvantage miles.
“We expect, for a sure section, it's going to be fairly worthwhile,” Ortiz mentioned of the plan, which he referred to as “pioneering.”
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Airways are nonetheless figuring out whether or not JetSmart flights can be eligible for AAdvantage tier standing, he mentioned.
JetSmart's adoption of AAdvantage comes three years after the airline unveiled a broader partnership. On this distinctive deal, American, a full-service service, took an fairness stake in ultra-low-cost service JetSmart with plans for future codeshare and loyalty tie-ups.
The deal comes after American misplaced longtime accomplice LATAM to Delta Air Strains in 2019. LATAM and Delta later launched a three way partnership protecting US-South America flights in late 2022. The partnership permits LATAM and Delta to legally coordinate flights, fares and different industrial actions. ,
American – which additionally shaped a brand new partnership with Brazilian airline Gol after shedding LATAM – accomplished the acquisition of a 35.4% stake in JetSmart in late 2022. The airline carried out codeshare on discounter flights to Chile and Peru final yr. Codeshares in Argentina and Colombia, the place JetSmart started home flights in early March, are scheduled to start later this yr.
It’s uncommon in international air journey for one airline to undertake the loyalty program of one other, however not unparalleled. Finnair joined Aer Lingus, British Airways, Iberia and Qatar Airways in adopting Avios as its loyalty forex in early March. Avios is owned by Worldwide Airways Group. Moreover, Copa Airways used United Airways' MileagePlus program for its loyalty wants till it launched its personal program, ConnectMiles, in 2015.
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For JetSmart, Ortiz sees AAdvantage as a lift to the fast-growing price range airline's enterprise. Some promoting factors are that AAdvantage is the most important airline loyalty program on this planet and one of many largest in Latin America.
“I believe we're evolving in ways in which we didn't actually count on but it surely's actually welcome,” he mentioned. “It has extra passengers, (and) it has a better yield.”
US officers have beforehand described the partnership as increasing AAdvantage's utility in South America. This might subsequently enhance membership in this system – which is extremely worthwhile for American – and draw extra individuals onto the airline's flights out and in of the area.
JetSmart operates 35 plane in 4 international locations: Argentina, Chile, Colombia and Peru. In accordance with Airbus' newest orders and deliveries knowledge, it has orders for an additional 73 Airbus A320neo-family plane and probably extra from majority proprietor IndiGo Companions.
Requested about JetSmart's development plans, Ortiz declined to offer specifics, however mentioned the main focus for the following few years is on additional creating its community within the 4 international locations the place it already operates.
Ortiz was silent on any plans to serve the US