Alaska Airlines Won't Let Passengers Do This, Effective Immediately
The popular carrier just confirmed that it is ending a key partnership.
From requiring passengers to wear masks to banning alcohol sales on board, airlines have had to shift and adapt over the last two years as a result of the COVID pandemic. But even as the pandemic appears to be winding down, more global troubles are set to bring about new flight changes in 2022. Alaska Airlines just announced that it was ending one thing already this year as a result of trouble overseas. Read on to find out about the change and what it will mean for passengers.
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Alaska Airlines is suspending its partnership with Russian airlines.
Alaska Airlines confirmed that it has cut ties with two Russian airlines amid the country's invasion of Ukraine, Fox Business reported on March 3. According to the news outlet, the airline's partnerships with carriers S7 and Aeroflot have been put on an indefinite pause. Aeroflot is Russia's largest airline and S7 is its largest private airline. "We are deeply concerned by the humanitarian crisis taking place in Ukraine," Alaska Airlines said in a statement to Fox Business.
This will prohibit passengers from doing certain things.
The Seattle-based carrier said it is "temporarily suspending" its partnership with the S7 airline. This means that Alaska Airlines customers will no longer be able to earn miles on S7 flights, according to Fox Business. And Alaska also said that its "ongoing work to enable redemptions on S7 will also stop."
In terms of its partnership with Aeroflot, the carrier said it is suspending its "limited interline relationships" with both S7 and Aeroflot. According to Fox Business, interline ticketing allows passengers to get tickets for competing airlines—in this case, S7 and Aeroflot—if their original flight is disrupted by certain factors such as bad weather. But as a result of Alaska Airlines temporarily severing ties, customers will no longer be able to do this.
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Alaska Airlines is not the only U.S. carrier making this kind of move.
While Alaska Airlines is the latest U.S. carrier to cut ties with Russian partners, it's not the only one to have done so recently. American Airlines sent out an internal company note earlier this week stating that it was "indefinitely" suspending its interline agreements with S7 and Aeroflot, Fox Business reported. This includes the carrier's Oneworld Frequent Flier Program with S7.
Delta Air Lines also cut ties with Aeroflot as a result of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, CNBC reported on Feb. 25. This carrier's previous partnership with the Russian airline allowed customers to book seats on each other's flights. "Delta has withdrawn our codeshare services operated in conjunction with Russian national airline, Aeroflot, effective immediately," the carrier said in a statement to the news outlet. "We have removed our code from Aeroflot-operated services beyond Moscow's Sheremetyevo Airport and removed Aeroflot's code from Delta-operated services from Los Angeles and New York-JFK. Accommodations will be made for customers affected by these changes."
Many U.S. airlines have stopped flying over Russian airspace.
U.S. passenger carriers don't operate nonstop flights to Russia, according to The Wall Street Journal. But in the wake the ongoing war in Ukraine, several carriers have started re-routing flights that fly in Russian airspace. United Airlines said it will no longer fly over Russia on its route to India, and Delta Air Lines has said it is steering clear of the country as well, the news outlet reported.
American Airlines has also stopped flying over Russian and Ukrainian airspace and re-routed its flight between Delhi, India and New York "out of an abundance of caution," according to Fox Business. The carrier said its last flight over Russia was on Feb. 23. Meanwhile, cargo airlines FedEx and UPS—which also fly over Russia—have both temporarily suspended deliveries to the country as well, Fox Business reported. FedEx is halting all package delivery into Russia while UPS said it was suspending all services to and from the country.
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