Condor and Alaska Airlines, American and JetSmart pursue separate code shares

A pair of major US carriers – Alaska Airlines and American Airlines – are pursuing separate codeshare agreements with Condor and JetSmart, respectively. German leisure carrier Condor has applied with US regulatory authorities for a code-share agreement that would allow Condor to use Alaska’s airline designator code on international flights. Condor requested in a 21 April filing with the US Department of Transportation to begin the code-share service “on or around” 1 June. The holiday specialist also requested “expedited processing of this application”. Under the proposed agreement, Alaska would place its code on Condor services between Frankfurt, Germany and 12 US cities – Anchorage (Alaska), Boston, Baltimore, Fairbanks (Alaska), New York, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Minneapolis (Minnesota), Portland (Oregon), Phoenix, Seattle and San Francisco. “The code share authorisation requested herein is fully consistent with the applicable open skies air transport agreement currently in place between the United States and the European Union,” Condor says in its application. Separately, American and Chilean low-cost carrier JetSmart received DOT approval on 21 April to enter a two-year code-share agreement effective immediately and running through 21 April 2025. The agreement allows American to provide scheduled air service “between points in the United States and points worldwide on a third-county code-share basis”. It also grants JetSmart authority to display American’s designator code on flights operated by JetSmart “within Chile and between Chile and third countries”, according to the filing. “Based on the record in this case, we found that JetSmart… is operationally and financially qualified to conduct the proposed services,” the DOT says. “We also note that American has conducted a safety audit of JetSmart… and the FAA has advised us that it has reviewed the relevant audit report and found it to be acceptable.” <br/>