Codeshare agreement facts for kids
Codesharing is a type of partnership that airlines have. Airlines agree to sell each other's tickets on some routes. This means that both airlines sell more tickets.
Sometimes, airlines join groups (called alliances) which all agree to sell each other's tickets. For example, both United Airlines and Lufthansa are part of Star Alliance. This means that Lufthansa can sell tickets for United Airlines and United Airlines can sell Lufthansa's tickets.
History
In 1967, Richard A. Henson joined with US Airways predecessor Allegheny Airlines in the nation's first codeshare relationship. The term "code sharing" or "codeshare" was coined in 1989 by Qantas and American Airlines, and in 1990 the two firms provided their first codeshare flights between an array of Australian cities and U.S. domestic cities. Code sharing has become widespread in the airline industry since that time, particularly in the wake of the formation of large airline "alliances." These alliances have extensive codesharing and networked frequent flyer programs.
Reasons and advantages
Under a code sharing agreement, participating airlines can present a common flight number for several reasons, including:
For passengers
- Connecting flights: This provides clearer routing for the customer, allowing a customer to book travel from point A to C through point B under one carrier's code, instead of a customer booking from point A to B under one code, and from point B to C under another code. This is not only a superficial addition as cooperating airlines also strive to synchronize their schedules.
For airlines
- Flights from both airlines that fly the same route: this provides an apparent increase in the frequency of service on the route by one airline
- Perceived service to unserviced markets: this provides a method for carriers who do not operate their own aircraft on a given route to gain exposure in the market through display of their flight numbers.
- When an airline sacrifices its capacity to other airlines as a code share partner, its operational cost will generally be reduced to zero.
Images for kids
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An information display showing code-shared flights (indicated by multiple flight numbers in a single time slot), at Fukuoka Airport.
See also
In Spanish: Código compartido para niños
