With the fast approaching date of May 9th for Southwest to fully transition to Amadeus, I am sure code sharing will be the next big decision as they continue to grow. So, my question is, what are their options?

1. Join one of the big 3. (Not going to happen)
2. Start small with someone like Volaris to expand to smaller destinations in Mexico and/or open up Canada and Hawaii with WestJet
3. Focus on Europe with a possible Icelandair agreement who also uses Amadeus which would make for a slightly easier link. Southwest flies to all US cities that Icelandair flies to other than Chicago (MDW for WN and ORD for FI).
4. Forgot about code sharing and focus on their own growth and see what falls into their lap in the next 2-3 years.


2017 will be a big year for WN. New aircraft, retiring old aircraft, and updating a 30 year old reservation system. However, I believe that code sharing will be bigger than all of those combined when it comes to the future of Southwest Airlines.

Good luck getting the pilots to play along.

I think it will be interesting to see who WN codeshares with. They are such a hybrid of a LCC and a legacy that there really aren't many out there that would be a perfect match. I think WS was the perfect match, but it seems that ship has sailed. Their "all-inclusive" model is what is going to be tricky to put out there when their codeshare partners may not have the same principles. They also don't want their customer service record be tarnished by one of their partners.

I think there will be enormous pressure (revenue pressure) to work with the ME3 + TK. It will open up A LOT of new opportunities for the ME3 and provide a lot of revenue to WN. It looks to me like the EK+TK are probably half of B6's code share revenue. It's smaller at AS, but I think it could be that big if they developed it further.

Bottom line, the ME3+TK are where the big money is for code share because they have so few fees options now. Hell, EK doesn't even have interline with any of the US3. They'd put a ton of traffic on WN. The other potential partners are small potatoes.

flyguy84 wrote:

Good luck getting the pilots to play along.

Codeshare agreed to in the contract signed November 7th.

I don't know anything about code sharing.

Does Southwest's lack of true first class and business class in any way limit the code sharing that they can do?

I vote for FI and EK..They have had some limited interline with FI decades ago and EK needs the feed! and most of the destinations are realistically nothing WN would ever serve themselves!

RJNUT wrote:

I vote for FI and EK..They have had some limited interline with FI decades ago and EK needs the feed! and most of the destinations are realistically nothing WN would ever serve themselves!

EK likely won't happen as our CBA won't allow codeshare on SOE's (State Owned Enterprises - like the ME3) ot FOC's (Flag of Convenience) carriers such as NAI - without specific approval.

Do the small prop airlines like Tropic Air (Belize) or Nature Air (Costa Rica) do any codesharing? The convenience of being able to transfer on to fly to the small destinations would be nice without having to buy a totally separate ticket.

barney captain wrote:

RJNUT wrote:

I vote for FI and EK..They have had some limited interline with FI decades ago and EK needs the feed! and most of the destinations are realistically nothing WN would ever serve themselves!

EK likely won't happen as our CBA won't allow codeshare on SOE's (State Owned Enterprises - like the ME3) ot FOC's (Flag of Convenience) carriers such as NAI - without specific approval.

It's good that the approval provision is there. Do any downsides come to mind as far as an ME3 or Norwegian partnership are concerned? Seems to me like it's more passengers for WN.

enilria wrote:

I think there will be enormous pressure (revenue pressure) to work with the ME3 + TK. It will open up A LOT of new opportunities for the ME3 and provide a lot of revenue to WN. It looks to me like the EK+TK are probably half of B6's code share revenue. It's smaller at AS, but I think it could be that big if they developed it further.

Bottom line, the ME3+TK are where the big money is for code share because they have so few fees options now. Hell, EK doesn't even have interline with any of the US3. They'd put a ton of traffic on WN. The other potential partners are small potatoes.

That doesn't do me any good. They hub at the wrong airport in Houston. That means I would have to at a minimum double connect to an airport that has both WN and the ME3 + TK. I could drive to IAH in less time and leave my house later than I would have to in order to board an ME3 or TK flight at IAH. That's if all the flights have reasonable connect times which are not over 2 hours. Also those airlines tend to arrive in the evening on the way back to the US. By the time one clears customs, goes through security, and goes to a departure gate, it is too late to get to the last schduled departure to HOU in time for the second connection to home. That means I would need to get a hotel room near the airport where I would enter the US. There's no way I would stay near HOU; it's not a nice neighborhood.

I suspect lots of other smaller cities served by WN might have the same problems. Many of Southwest's hubs are in secondary airports close to downtown but with no scheduled intercontinental service; HOU, DAL, and MDW are the the main ones that come to mind. The most likely hubs to connect at would be IAD, ATL, FLL, DEN, PHX, LAS, LAX, and SFO. DEN is unlikey for an ME3 due to altitude and the long range routes. I don't think I would care to add 5-8 additional flying hours back tracking merely for the connecting flights from airports west of my location to travel east.

flyingclrs727 wrote:

enilria wrote:

I think there will be enormous pressure (revenue pressure) to work with the ME3 + TK. It will open up A LOT of new opportunities for the ME3 and provide a lot of revenue to WN. It looks to me like the EK+TK are probably half of B6's code share revenue. It's smaller at AS, but I think it could be that big if they developed it further.

Bottom line, the ME3+TK are where the big money is for code share because they have so few fees options now. Hell, EK doesn't even have interline with any of the US3. They'd put a ton of traffic on WN. The other potential partners are small potatoes.

That doesn't do me any good. They hub at the wrong airport in Houston. That means I would have to at a minimum double connect to an airport that has both WN and the ME3 + TK. I could drive to IAH in less time and leave my house later than I would have to in order to board an ME3 or TK flight at IAH. That's if all the flights have reasonable connect times which are not over 2 hours. Also those airlines tend to arrive in the evening on the way back to the US. By the time one clears customs, goes through security, and goes to a departure gate, it is too late to get to the last schduled departure to HOU in time for the second connection to home. That means I would need to get a hotel room near the airport where I would enter the US. There's no way I would stay near HOU; it's not a nice neighborhood.

I suspect lots of other smaller cities served by WN might have the same problems. Many of Southwest's hubs are in secondary airports close to downtown but with no scheduled intercontinental service; HOU, DAL, and MDW are the the main ones that come to mind. The most likely hubs to connect at would be IAD, ATL, FLL, DEN, PHX, LAS, LAX, and SFO. DEN is unlikey for an ME3 due to altitude and the long range routes. I don't think I would care to add 5-8 additional flying hours back tracking merely for the connecting flights from airports west of my location to travel east.

I think it improves the chances for PHX, ATL, DTW, MSP, maybe DEN getting EK.

WN won't be partnering with anyone.

They want absolute control over everything and the pilots have the leverage.

enilria wrote:

I think it improves the chances for PHX, ATL, DTW, MSP, maybe DEN getting EK.

Very good/interesting point.

Would seem to me if the flying for codeshare is all long haul (out of the range of 737s) there is really no downside for WN or their pilots. I think a model like AS could work.

First you must find airlines whom are not already tied up in an alliance. Secondly you must remove those whom are considered a "SOE". After that your list isnt all that long.

Heres my short list

Hawaiian
Porter (If YTZ situation ever turns in PDs favor, this would be huge)
Azul
Jetblue (which is a hugggeee long shot, but can be benefical to both carriers)

barney captain wrote:

flyguy84 wrote:

Good luck getting the pilots to play along.

Codeshare agreed to in the contract signed November 7th.

Limited to inter-island Hawaii, Alaska for domestic codesharing. For international it is Inter-island Caribbean, route authority required, or Far Intenational limited by PDEW. Yes, the contract allows it, but very limited (thumbs up to SWAPA).

flyguy84 wrote:

Good luck getting the pilots to play along.

Maybe the pilots will play along if they get a raise.

I could see WN making a deal with Wow. A deal with Wow would open up routes for WN's business, and leisure passengers to go to Europe. Plus, Wow seems to have a business plan similar to WN's.

Delta and Southwest could enter into a limited codeshare agreement that would allow Delta Air Lines to put its code on Southwest flights to/from Amarillo, Lubbock, Midland/Odessa, and Corpus Christi, but would prohibit Delta from putting its code on Southwest flights between two cities served by both Delta Air Lines and Southwest Airlines and vice versa. The reasoning behind the limited codeshare agreement is to give travellers in the West Texas region and Corpus Christi access to Delta Air Lines destinations that Southwest Airlines does not serve and to give Delta Air Lines customers access to destinations within the state of Texas that Delta Air Lines does not serve. Delta Air Lines does not currently serve Amarillo, Lubbock, Midland/Odessa, and Corpus Christi, and a limited codeshare agreement with Southwest Airlines would allow access to these destinations from Delta Air Lines cities not served by Southwest Airlines and would provide an alternative to American Airlines or United Airlines service.

jplatts wrote:

Delta and Southwest could enter into a limited codeshare agreement that would allow Delta Air Lines to put its code on Southwest flights to/from Amarillo, Lubbock, Midland/Odessa, and Corpus Christi, but would prohibit Delta from putting its code on Southwest flights between two cities served by both Delta Air Lines and Southwest Airlines and vice versa. The reasoning behind the limited codeshare agreement is to give travellers in the West Texas region and Corpus Christi access to Delta Air Lines destinations that Southwest Airlines does not serve and to give Delta Air Lines customers access to destinations within the state of Texas that Delta Air Lines does not serve. Delta Air Lines does not currently serve Amarillo, Lubbock, Midland/Odessa, and Corpus Christi, and a limited codeshare agreement with Southwest Airlines would allow access to these destinations from Delta Air Lines cities not served by Southwest Airlines and would provide an alternative to American Airlines or United Airlines service.

I know you're all gung ho with the new account just two days old but chill with the ridiculous posts. DFW, now this. Southwest will never codeshare with AA, DL or UA because the SWA pilots would never allow it, and frankly, I don't know that Southwest would, if they could. Maybe take some time to read and learn before you continue posting, there's lots to learn here. Good luck.

CEO Gary Kelly said recently that WN will not likely codeshare for several years. Simply not the highest priority right now he said.

I think that the most likely would be one or more of the small regional players that codeshare widely: Cape Air, Silver, Seaborne, Great Lakes, etc.