Elephant in the room [AusBT coverage of Qantas/AA Joint Venture]

17 replies

flychrisfly

Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer

Member since 09 Jun 2011

Total posts 40

As reported in The Age on 29 Nov 2016. Qantas has decided to pull the plug:


As per the Qantas spokesperson:

"It follows approval from Australian and New Zealand regulators on the basis that our expanded partnership involved no detriment and would deliver significant benefits for consumers"

Key questions: How effective are the AU regulators if they approved this deal while the DOT hasn't? What is the AU regulator's focus? Is their focus different from the DOT?

As per the AA spokesperson:

"With that opportunity we would have been able to compete more effectively and increase consumer benefits in the market as well."

Code: We can compete on quality and not price.

It is well known that the Trans Pacific sector is one of the last few international sectors making money for Qantas. AA and other US-based airlines know this and want to get in on the action. The application of game theory on the part of AA and QF is commendable. Question is how will AA react to this so that they do not haemorrhage cash and wind down the Trans Pacific strategy without losing too much face?

Here's the link: http://www.theage.com.au/business/aviation/qantas-airways-bales-out-of-plan-to-grow-us-traffic-through-american-airlines-deal-20161128-gszkav.html

Chris C.

Member since 24 Apr 2012

Total posts 1,116

Now that a solid decision has been made (the application for antitrust immunity being withdrawn and thus the application for an expanded JV), you'll find AusBT's story here: Qantas, AA shelve partnership expansion: what happens now?

Should there be any changes to routes or other important elements of the passenger experience, we'd look to report those also, as would always be the case.

Note that the poll below is one created by the original poster on page 1, not one created by yours truly.

Poll: Who thinks AUSBT should tackle the DOT AA/QF ruling?

Last editedby Chris C. at Nov 29, 2016, 01:31 PM.

John Phelan

Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer

Member since 28 Oct 2011

Total posts 262

It is well known that the Trans Pacific sector is one of the last few international sectors making money for Qantas. AA and other US-based airlines know this and want to get in on the action.

Actually, this is not well known - for the simple reason that it is not true! Certainly, QF does well on trans-pacific, but the airline is now making a profit on most (if not all) of its international routes. Your claim would have been accurate several years ago; not so today.

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