American Airways and its price range airline associate JetSmart are figuring out the main points to deliver AAdvantage miles redemptions to the South American service.
The airways have confronted “some challenges” rolling out AAdvantage as JetSmart’s loyalty program, stated Victor Mejia, chief industrial officer of JetSmart, on the Routes Americas convention in Nassau, Bahamas, on Tuesday.
American and JetSmart first unveiled plans for the latter to undertake AAdvantage as its personal loyalty program in July 2021 as part of an investment by the previous. A key side in that pact was realized in September 2024 when AAdvantage members were able to earn miles and Loyalty Factors on JetSmart flights throughout South America. Miles redemptions had been anticipated by the top of the yr however have but to start.
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AAdvantage redemptions are coming “very quickly” to JetSmart flights, Mejia stated when requested in regards to the delay. Whereas he wouldn’t specify a date, he did say it could be this yr.
“There’s an vital buyer base in Latin America that, perhaps, does not have sufficient AAdvantage miles for a ticket to the U.S. however have sufficient for a one-hour flight on us,” he stated.
That buyer base is vital to each American and JetSmart.
American is the biggest U.S. airline in Latin America, the place it has a large variety of AAdvantage members, executives have stated. This system, in keeping with a 2021 investor presentation, is among the many largest airline loyalty packages on the planet with greater than 115 million members globally.
The U.S. service has taken a two-pronged method to serving these AAdvantage members in Latin America. It has an equity partnership with Gol Airlines within the Brazilian market, with JetSmart protecting a lot of the remainder of South America. American adopted the technique after its longtime associate LATAM shifted its allegiance to Delta Air Lines in 2019.
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JetSmart has native operations in Argentina, Chile, Colombia and Peru, and massive development plans for the years forward. The Chilean service goals to greater than double its fleet from 44 Airbus A320-family planes at this time to 100-plus plane by the top of the last decade.
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Indigo Companions, the personal fairness agency behind price range carriers Frontier Airways and Wizz Air, owns the vast majority of JetSmart and American holds a roughly 35% stake.
“Funding from our aspect leads right into a home enlargement [at JetSmart], which permits us to develop our long-haul,” stated Anmol Bhargava, vp of worldwide alliances and partnerships at American, in a 2023 interview. “It simply turns into a round wheel for our companions.”
JetSmart has expansive plans for its new plane as they arrive, Mejia stated. That features filling out its home and intra-South America networks, particularly in Argentina and Colombia, and increasing north from Colombia to locations within the U.S., Caribbean and Mexico.
Within the meantime, JetSmart is already benefiting from its adoption of AAdvantage final yr. Practically 10% of vacationers embody an AAdvantage quantity on their reservation at this time, Mejia stated. And the proportion is predicted to develop as soon as miles redemptions come on-line.
The airline can also be within the strategy of increasing its codeshare partnership with American to incorporate Colombia, he added. JetSmart anticipates having approvals in hand and the pact carried out by the top of the yr.
American and JetSmart at the moment codeshare in Chile and Peru, and on choose flights in Argentina.
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