Alaska Airlines is set to join Oneworld today
Alaska Airlines is set to join the Oneworld alliance on Wednesday, eight months after the venture was first announced.
The word that Alaska would officially join the alliance came last July, just five months after Alaska and American launched a new codeshare and frequent flyer agreement dubbed the "West Coast international alliance."
Under the original partnership, America and Alaska expanded their existing codeshare agreement to cover more routes, and allowed reciprocal frequent flyer benefits, as well as mileage earning and redemption.
With Alaska becoming a full member of Oneworld, the codeshare will expand to include other alliance members, such as British Airways, Iberia, and Qatar, although benefits will be rolled out in phases through this summer.
"The big guys have consolidated big-time and we were not going to be in both SkyTeam and Oneworld, or have … access," outgoing Alaska Airlines CEO Brad Tilden said in an interview with TPG in mid-March. "The dynamics in the industry made it clear that that wasn't going happen. So the right answer for us became that we needed to join a global alliance."
The alliance and the airline will hold a joint virtual event at 1 p.m. ET to celebrate Alaska's induction. TPG will be in attendance, so be sure to check back for more, including what you need to know in order to take advantage of the new arrangement.
More: Everything you need to know about Alaska's partnership with Oneworld
TPG exclusive: From battling 'frenemy' Delta to Oneworld to Virgin America, outgoing Alaska Air CEO leaves his mark
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