Alaska Airlines, which surprised much of the airline industry in February with its decision to join the OneWorld alliance and reknit its formerly-tight relationship with American Airlines has dropped another surprise with a hint that it is moving to speed the plan up, joining by the end of the year.
For years, Alaska has built a web of ties with other airlines across alliances without joining any of them. The so-called “Swiss” strategy has been popular with frequent flyers who can earn points on Alaska and use them with other partners or earn points on other lines while flying Alaska.
The move to join an alliance is expected to allow Alaska loyalty members more access to international flights, and to provide OneWorld travelers with access to Alaska’s dense web of West Coast flights. The airline is slowing reopening its network in the post-pandemic period, up to about 40% in July.
