American Airways and its funds airline companion JetSmart are figuring out the small print to deliver AAdvantage miles redemptions to the South American service.
The airways have confronted “some challenges” rolling out AAdvantage as JetSmart’s loyalty program, stated Victor Mejia, chief industrial officer of JetSmart, on the Routes Americas convention in Nassau, Bahamas, on Tuesday.
American and JetSmart first unveiled plans for the latter to undertake AAdvantage as its personal loyalty program in July 2021 as a part of an funding by the previous. A key aspect in that pact was realized in September 2024 when AAdvantage members have been capable of earn miles and Loyalty Factors on JetSmart flights throughout South America. Miles redemptions have been anticipated by the tip of the yr however have but to start.
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AAdvantage redemptions are coming “very quickly” to JetSmart flights, Mejia stated when requested in regards to the delay. Whereas he wouldn’t specify a date, he did say it might be this yr.
“There’s an necessary buyer base in Latin America that, perhaps, would not have sufficient AAdvantage miles for a ticket to the U.S. however have sufficient for a one-hour flight on us,” he stated.
That buyer base is necessary to each American and JetSmart.
American is the most important U.S. airline in Latin America, the place it has a large variety of AAdvantage members, executives have stated. This system, in keeping with a 2021 investor presentation, is among the many largest airline loyalty applications on the planet with greater than 115 million members globally.
The U.S. service has taken a two-pronged strategy to serving these AAdvantage members in Latin America. It has an fairness partnership with Gol Airways within the Brazilian market, with JetSmart protecting a lot of the remainder of South America. American adopted the technique after its longtime companion LATAM shifted its allegiance to Delta Air Strains in 2019.
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JetSmart has native operations in Argentina, Chile, Colombia and Peru, and large progress plans for the years forward. The Chilean service goals to greater than double its fleet from 44 Airbus A320-family planes right this moment to 100-plus plane by the tip of the last decade.
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Indigo Companions, the personal fairness agency behind funds carriers Frontier Airways and Wizz Air, owns the vast majority of JetSmart and American holds a roughly 35% stake.
“Funding from our facet leads right into a home growth [at JetSmart], which permits us to develop our long-haul,” stated Anmol Bhargava, vp of world alliances and partnerships at American, in a 2023 interview. “It simply turns into a round wheel for our companions.”
JetSmart has expansive plans for its new plane as they arrive, Mejia stated. That features filling out its home and intra-South America networks, particularly in Argentina and Colombia, and increasing north from Colombia to locations within the U.S., Caribbean and Mexico.
Within the meantime, JetSmart is already benefiting from its adoption of AAdvantage final yr. Almost 10% of vacationers embrace an AAdvantage quantity on their reservation right this moment, Mejia stated. And the proportion is anticipated to develop as soon as miles redemptions come on-line.
The airline can be within the technique of increasing its codeshare partnership with American to incorporate Colombia, he added. JetSmart anticipates having approvals in hand and the pact applied by the tip of the yr.
American and JetSmart at present codeshare in Chile and Peru, and on choose flights in Argentina.
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