Republic Airlines to fly as oneworld affiliate on American Eagle routes

02 août 2013

Republic Airlines is to fly as an affiliate members of oneworld®, the leading quality global airline alliance, from 01 août 2013 on routes it operates as American Eagle, the regional affiliate of American Airlines.  

 
It will start flying as American Eagle on routes already served by the carrier and/or American Airlines mainline from its Chicago O'Hare hub with new Embraer 175s.  It will add two or three of these large regional jets a month to this operation, with the fleet eventually numbering 47.
 
Republic Airlines will operate in American Eagle colours, in a two-class configuration – 12 seats in First Class in a 2:1 configuration and 64 in Coach, including 20 designated to offer American's Main Cabin Extra service, in a 2:2 configuration – with flight codes in the range AA4800-4999.
 
Customer service in the air and on the ground will be to the regular American Eagle standards – with the full range of oneworld services and benefits, including, for members of any oneworld member airlines' frequent flyer programme, the ability to earn mileage rewards and tier status points, redeem mileage rewards, and, for top tier cardholders, access to lounges where they are available.    At the same time, these flights will be featured in all oneworld fares.
 
Republic Airlines' oneworld affiliation covers only flights operated as American Eagle.  The affiliation does not extend to other Republic Airlines' flights not carrying the American Eagle brand.
 
The move follows a 12-year "capacity purchase" agreement signed earlier this year between American and Republic.  It is the first time a supplier will operate large regional jets on behalf of the American group, made possible by the new contract reached between American and its pilot workforce, enabling the company to offer customers more choices with the right sized aircraft to match market demand, to strengthen its service from key hubs and to diversify partnerships with regional carriers.   
 
Republic Airlines is part of the Republic Airways group, which is the world's largest operator of Embraer regional jets.  Another Republic Airways subsidiary, Chautauqua Airlines, has for many years operated regional jets on behalf of American Airlines' regional AmericanConnection, another oneworld affiliate, also from Chicago O'Hare.
 
Besides its 12 full member airlines, oneworld also includes some 30 affiliate members.  These are generally regional airlines with strong links with oneworld full member airlines.   American Eagle has been an affiliate member of oneworld since its parent American Airlines became a founder member of the alliance, at its launch in 1999.  ExpressJet and SkyWest have started operating services as American Eagle on flights from Dallas/Fort Worth and Los Angeles in the past year.  Other oneworld affiliate members include:
  • airberlin's Austria-based affiliate NIKI.
  • British Airways subsidiaries BA CityFlyer, British Airways (BA) Limited and OpenSkies and franchisees Comair of South Africa and Sunair of Denmark.
  • Cathay Pacific's Dragonair.
  • Finnair's Flybe Finland.
  • Iberia Regional Air Nostrum and Iberia Express.
  • JAL Express, J-AIR and Japan Transocean Air.
  • LAN Argentina, LAN Ecuador and LAN Peru, with LAN Colombia to be added later this year.
  • QantasLink and its operators Airlink (National Jet Systems), Eastern Australian Airlines, Sunstate Airlines and Jetconnect.
  • S7's Globus.  
About oneworld 
 
oneworld is an alliance of the world's leading airlines, committed to providing the highest level of service and convenience to frequent international travellers.  Current member airlines include airberlin, American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Finnair, Iberia, Japan Airlines, LAN, Malaysia Airlines, Qantas, Royal Jordanian and S7 Airlines, and around 30 affiliates.  Qatar Airways, SriLankan Airlines and TAM will join soon.  American has announced its intention to merge with US Airways, subject to necessary approvals, bringing the latter also into oneworld.
 
Between them, these airlines: 
Serve nearly a thousand airports in almost 160 countries, with some 13 500 daily departures.
Carry more than 480 million passengers a year on a combined fleet of almost 3 500 aircraft.
Generate more than US$ 140 billion annual revenues in total.
 
oneworld member airlines work together to deliver consistently a superior, seamless travel experience, with special privileges and rewards for frequent flyers, including earning and redeeming miles and points across the entire alliance network. Top tier cardholders (Emerald and Sapphire) enjoy access to some 550 airport lounges. The most regular travellers (Emerald) can also use fast track security lanes at select airports and receive an extra baggage allowances.
 
oneworld is currently the holder of five leading international awards for airline alliances - named World's Best Airline Alliance in the 2013 World Airline Awards by the independent Skytrax airline quality ratings agency, the Best Airline Alliance by Global Traveler in its GT Tested Reader Survey 2012 Awards for the third year running, the World's Leading Airline Alliance in the 2012 World Travel Awards for the 10th year running, Australian Business Traveller Best Airline Alliance in 2012 for the second year running, and FlightStats Airline Alliance On-Time Performance 2012 winner, in what was believed to have been the first time a punctuality award has been presented to any global airline alliance.