Alaska Airlines has inked a new agreement with Japan Air Lines that will see codeshares between the two, and will allow frequent fliers to choose between the two for which points to earn on flights.
Alaska has made an art of collecting major partners in different markets without actually joining any of the three big alliances. Its existing partners include several SkyTeam members and this deal adds a major OneWorld member. Together with Alaska’s recent purchase of Virgin America, Alaska will now have an even bigger choice of Pacific and domestic route connections to offer.
Delta, which has been a past codeshare partner, has put Alaska under considerable pressure at its Seattle hub and along the West Coast over the past two years, perhaps spurring Alaska’s growth moves as a defense.
