It looks like American Airlines is planning on launching a flight to Qatar.
The American plans to travel to Doha.
The Wall Street Journal published an article today about how American Airlines plans to reduce long haul international flying due to issues with Boeing 787 deliveries, leaving the airline with a shortage of wide body aircraft. Most of the cuts were expected, given how much of Asia remains closed.
The article contained an interesting fact about a new route, which is American Airlines' plan to launch a new flight between New York and Doha. We don't know when the route will launch, what frequencies and times the flight will operate, and what plane will be used.
The American will start flights to Doha.
What is the logic for an American to fly to a country?
American Airlines has taken a new strategy since the beginning of 2020 to leverage partner airlines to create a more cohesive route network. American Airlines has launched and expanded new partnerships with Alaska Airlines, JetBlue Airways, and Qatar Airways.
For a long time, the airlines didn't cooperate very much, even though they were in the oneworld alliance. In early 2020, the two airlines announced a new partnership. There were discussions about the possibility of American launching flights to Doha.
The partnership between American and Qatar Airways is close.
The launch of this new route seems to be coming to fruition. There had been discussions about which American hub could serve as a departure point for Doha, given that the only American hub that does not currently serve as a departure point is Charlotte and Phoenix.
I guess it is not surprising that American chose New York, since the carrier is expanding its long haul service out of New York to destinations like Delhi and Tel Aviv.
I am not sure if I understand the logic of American launching flights to Doha.
There are 2x daily flights between New York and Doha by Qatar Airways, and American Airlines has a codeshare with them.
This route would be about connecting into the huge route network of Qatar Airways, rather than about the New York to Doha market.
The ability to use systemwide upgrades on these flights will not make this flight a money-maker.
I think the logic is that American wants to build a global presence in New York, and offering a flight to Doha gives passengers a one-stop route to just about anywhere in the world.
I think that American might be better off sharing less revenue and transporting more passengers on its own metal if it wanted to because there aren't that many profitable long haul destinations to fly to at the moment.
The business class of American Airlines.
The bottom line.
American Airlines plans to launch a flight between New York and Doha. When the new strategic partnership was announced in early 2020, there were discussions about American flying to Qatar. I think we will learn more about when this route will launch.
I am not sure if I understand the logic for the route. I suppose there is value in American being able to offer one-stop service from New York to many points around the globe, but that was already possible via codeshare on Qatar Airways, with a much better inflight experience.
What do you think about American Airlines launching flights?
