American, JAL Outline Joint Venture Details

American Airlines and Japan Airlines plan to launch their transpacific joint venture on April 1, initially covering 10 routes between the two nations.

The two carriers received antitrust immunity for the joint venture from Japanese and U.S. authorities by November. Since then they have been working on plans to align their schedules and connecting flights at hub airports, and in some cases co-locating airport operations.

The airlines will operate a “metal-neutral” schedule on the transpacific routes included in the joint venture. They will pool revenue on these flights, and coordinate pricing. The first routes covered by this arrangement will be the two airlines’ flights from Tokyo Narita to New York, Chicago, Dallas/Fort Worth, Los Angeles, and Vancouver, and from Tokyo Haneda to San Francisco and New York. Also included, pending Chinese government approval, are American’s flights between Beijing and Chicago, and between Shanghai and Chicago and Los Angeles.

American and JAL executives say they want to expand the routes covered by the joint venture when approval is gained from third-country governments.

Connecting flights from these gateways will also be covered, including JAL’s Asian and domestic routes, and American flights to Canada, Mexico, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and domestic U.S. points.

The two airlines intend to expand their codeshare flights even before joint venture operation enters force. JAL will add its code to more of American’s domestic flights over the next few months, including Salt Lake City and Sacramento. On Jan. 27, American will add its code to JAL’s flights from Haneda to Hong Kong and Singapore, and from Narita to Vancouver. In March, American will codeshare on JAL domestic flights.

Schedule realignments will occur at the start of the summer season – March 27 for JAL, and April 5 for American.

Coordinating scheduling at the hub airports is expected to increase the number of connecting opportunities from transpacific flights. At Chicago O’Hare, for example, adjustments to domestic flights and to JAL’s Narita flight mean 44 flights can connect to the JAL flight within two hours of its arrival, double the current number. The timing of American’s O’Hare-Narita flight will also be adjusted.

Connection times will be reduced when JAL relocates its operation at O’Hare from Terminal 5 to American’s Terminal 3 on March 27.

Adjustments to American’s flights from DFW to Narita will increase the number of connections beyond Narita within three hours of arrival from four to 12.

Some airline offices will also be relocated. American will move its Asia-Pacific regional office in Tokyo into the JAL headquarters on Jan. 17. And on Oct. 28, JAL moved its New York office into the same building as American’s on Lexington Avenue.