Reprinted from our INtheKNO Blog
Southwest Airlines and Volaris the upstart Mexican airline have today announced their long awaited tie up.
Southwest previously announced a northern alliance with Westjet.
So let's speculate at the moment that this in turn shields each other's market and creates a Non-GDS based alliance of almost biblical proportions.
The 3 airlines represent the pinnacle of the North American version of the LCC model. Each is very strong in their own right and all 3 will create a partnership that could knock the pants off any player or even combination of players north of the Panama Canal.
This will put a crimp in the style of JetBlue's southward expansion and also start a rush to further non-GDS based alliances.
I would take issue with the "seamless" integration statement in their PR release. That is a little over the top.
And yes that crumbling sound you hear in the background IS the sound of the GDS model falling.
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