FORT WORTH, Texas, and SYDNEY, Australia, June 03, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- American Airlines and Qantas welcome the U.S. Department of Transportation’s tentative approval of the carriers’ joint business to better serve customers flying between the United States and Australia and New Zealand.

Final approval of the joint business will allow for commercial integration between the carriers, delivering new routes and significant customer benefits not possible through any other form of cooperation, including:

• The opportunity to launch new routes and flights to new destinations, including city pairs not currently served by either carrier.
• An expanded codeshare relationship and optimized schedules on trans-Pacific services, opening up more connections to more destinations and reduced total travel time.
• Better access to seats on each carrier’s network, leading to lower fares. 
• Additional frequent flyer benefits by further integrating the carriers’ programs, including higher earn rates for points on each other’s networks beyond what is possible today through oneworld, as well as increased redemption opportunities and improved reciprocal end-to-end recognition of our top-tier frequent flyers.
• Co-location at airports and investments in lounges, baggage systems and other infrastructure designed to better serve the carriers’ joint customers.

As part of the case put to the DOT, Qantas and American flagged an intention to launch several new routes within the first two years of the proposed joint business. Qantas expects to announce details of two new routes — Brisbane, Australia (BNE)–Chicago (ORD) and BNE–San Francisco (SFO) — once final approval is received.

“As was evident in the unprecedented level of public support for this application, the joint business will also create additional jobs at our respective companies and in the industries we serve,” said American’s Chairman and CEO Doug Parker. “We thank Secretary Chao and the DOT for their consideration and look forward to final approval in the coming weeks.”

“Qantas and American submitted a compelling proposal to the DOT that would bring significant benefits to millions of travelers and a boost to tourism,” said Qantas Group CEO Alan Joyce. “For more than 30 years, Qantas and American have connected the U.S. and Australia as partners. This joint business means we’ll be able to deepen our partnership to offer new routes, better flight connections and more frequent flyer benefits.”

American and Qantas will review the Order, with a final decision from the DOT expected in the next few weeks.  

About American Airlines Group
American Airlines and American Eagle offer an average of nearly 6,700 flights per day to nearly 350 destinations in more than 50 countries. American has hubs in Charlotte, Chicago, Dallas/Fort Worth, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Philadelphia, Phoenix and Washington, D.C. American is a founding member of the oneworld^® alliance, whose members serve more than 1,000 destinations with about 14,250 daily flights to over 150 countries. Shares of American Airlines Group Inc. trade on Nasdaq under the ticker symbol AAL. In 2015, its stock joined the S&P 500 index. Connect with American on Twitter @AmericanAir and at Facebook.com/AmericanAirlines.

About Qantas
Founded in regional Queensland in 1920 – as Queensland and Northern Territory Aerial Services – Qantas has played a central role in the development of the Australian and international aviation industry. Today the Qantas Group is a diverse global aviation business, comprising Qantas Domestic, Qantas International, the Jetstar low-cost carrier group and Qantas Loyalty.  In total, the Qantas Group operates over 300 aircraft on more than 7,300 flights each week and, together with its codeshare and oneworld partners, offers flights to more than 1000 destinations around the world. Qantas is ranked the world’s safest airline by AirlineRatings.com, and holds many major awards for service, food and wine, technology and innovation. The Qantas Group carries over 50 million passengers each year and employs around 30,000 people. 

Source: American Airlines Group, Inc.