Things in the Sky

I had suspected in the past that Volaris would be a good partner for Southwest, and it actually happened. If you’re not familiar with Volaris, it’s a Mexican LCC that is only a bit more than two years old. The airline (according to ATDB) currently operates 18 A319s and 2 A320s, and has orders for a few more aircraft during the next couple of years. I think this new codeshare is great for both airlines.

A partnership gives Volaris some great opportunities – the airline currently does not serve the United States (Volaris will be doing all the transborder flying though), and Mexicana (joining Oneworld soon) and Aeromexico (Skyteam) already have established United States routes, so this will help them compete.

But this agreement is also great for Southwest, and I think it is a move that will make the frequent flyers out there happy. One of the main complaints oI have heard about Southwest and Rapid Rewards is that there is a limited number of international and vacation destinations for reward travel. So this agreement (assuming Rapid Rewards credits could be used to get travel on Volaris) adds some nice, sunny destinations for frequent customers to visit. The Caribbean and Hawaii are still two large vacation destinations that are missing, but Mexico is a good step.

Interestingly, next year one will be able to purchase Volaris tickets for transborder flights before the codeshare is in place (the same thing is happening with WestJet). For those keeping score with Southwest alliances, the WestJet codeshare is planned to be in place at the end of next year, and Volaris is planned to come online early 2010.

So, Southwest is slowly building up their own alliance. Let’s see who joins next. I am very to see who Southwest will choose for European and Asian partners (if there are any on the horizon).