10/01/2026
Alaska Airlines is preparing to join American Airlines' antitrust-immunized joint ventures across the transatlantic and transpacific, with formal Department of Transportation approval still pending.
"they wanted to do more with Alaska" - Robert Isom, American Airlines CEO.
Isom made that statement in April 2024, the same month talks between the two carriers began.
Alaska and American have partnered for roughly 40 years, but the relationship has not been smooth.
In 2018 the two airlines cut reciprocal frequent flyer benefits, and by March 2020 mileage redemptions were set to disappear entirely before a February 2020 reversal.
Vasu Raja took over alliance and partnership responsibility at American that same February, and former CEO Doug Parker explained the reversal to employees directly.
Alaska's acquisition of Hawaiian Airlines gave it the aircraft to build an independent long-haul network, a strategy now running in parallel with American's interests.
American's own Seattle gateway plan, which included London, Bangalore, and Shanghai service, did not deliver the results the airline wanted.
Alaska now flies to Tokyo, Seoul, Rome, London, and Reykjavik, and is adding Athens and Paris in May 2024.
London service itself has had a rocky run: Alaska launched the route in March 2021, then last operated it in October 2023.
Alaska has stated a target of 15 long-haul destinations by 2030, a number that outpaces what a standalone carrier of its size has historically attempted.
Joining American's immunized pools would place Alaska alongside British Airways, Iberia, Finnair, and Aer Lingus on the transatlantic side, and Japan Airlines on the transpacific side.
For a frequent flyer booking Alaska miles, that pooling matters more than the press release language - it determines award availability, codeshare pricing, and whether lounge access extends across partner hubs.
Antitrust immunity is not automatic: the first Trump administration's DOT denied a similar request from Hawaiian and Japan Airlines.
Approval has gone the other way before, too - DOT granted immunity to Air France, KLM, Alitalia, and Czech Airlines back in May 2008, and to Continental with Star Alliance in 2009 ahead of its merger with United.
Those precedents cut both directions for regulators weighing Alaska's case, and give no guarantee of a clean approval.
Points-and-miles travelers watching Alaska's long-haul buildout now have a second variable to track alongside new routes: whether the DOT clears a partnership that could reshape how far those miles actually fly.
