American Airlines Group said Thursday it would launch its first direct US flight to Bangalore from Seattle, a new route meant to meet corporate customers’ demand for travel to the centre of India’s high-tech industry. As part of the launch targeted for October, American is expanding its codeshare with Seattle-based Alaska Airlines, which is expected to help feed passengers on American’s international routes out of the city. “Bangalore is one of our highest demand destinations for our corporate accounts, really all over the country,” said Vasu Raja, American’s senior VP of network strategy. The partnership with Alaska will provide connections through Seattle to Bangalore from 100 US cities, he said, citing demand from markets as vast as Boston, Raleigh, Austin, Chicago and the West Coast. The new Bangalore route, which American plans to service with a Boeing 787-9, will be the carrier’s only US flight to India since it stopped flying to Delhi in 2012.<br/>
oneworld
Alaska Airlines will join Oneworld alliance as a full member by mid-2021, allowing American Airlines to connect flights through the Seattle-based carrier’s West Coast network. “By connecting American’s strength in long-haul international flying and Alaska’s presence across the West Coast, we will build a better network for our customers than either airline could build alone,” American Airlines president Robert Isom said. American will begin its new partnership with Alaska by launching daily flights in October from Seattle to Bangalore, India, the first ever direct route between those two cities. American will also begin service in March 2021 from Seattle to London Heathrow airport.<br/>
Australia’s Qantas has urged its pilots to reach agreement on a pay deal for the world’s longest commercial flights or face being replaced for those routes. The airline selected the Airbus A350-1000 as the preferred plane for the new routes to cities including London and New York in H1 2023, but it said that an order for up to 12 jets was contingent on reaching a deal with pilots by March. In an internal memo, Qantas International head Tino La Spina said the end of March deadline for a pilot vote on the deal was firm. “Airbus extended the delivery slots one last time once they knew they were the preferred supplier, but they are not willing to continue their exposure beyond that point,” he said. Qantas and the Australian and International Pilots Association (AIPA), which represents the pilots, have spent months in talks over a new pay deal. If a deal is not reached soon, the company will put a pay deal directly to the pilots for a vote even if it does not have the union’s backing. A failure of that vote would result in Qantas forming a new lower-cost pilot group, La Spina said.<br/>