Indian immigrants from RTP, Atlanta, Detroit, Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles, and Seattle have been vocal about their demand for nonstop air connectivity to India. The day does not seem to be far given the fast pace of Air India’s fleet modernization, inflight service overhaul, and network expansion. However, until then, there is an interim relief – the interline partnership between Air India and Alaska Airlines.
Recently, Air India inked an interline agreement with Alaska Airlines, in addition to ramping up the frequency of its nonstop flights to USA from India. This partnership facilitates Air India’s expansion in the US beyond the five major points: New York JFK, Newark EWR, Chicago ORD, Washington DC, and San Francisco. Alaska Airlines’ vast domestic network across the US is now accessible to Air India’s passengers with single tickets from India.
Two airlines, who are interline partners, allow each other to access their respective network, thereby enabling passengers to book single-ticket travel on one-stop connecting flights. Two or three interline partners provide hassle-free connection, stress-free travel, and through checked baggage transfer from one point to the other in their joint network.
With this interline agreement, Air India now has seamless access to more 26 US destinations in Alaska Airlines’ network. Thus, passengers of Air India flights can enjoy seamless connections for their onward travel to those 26 points across USA, including Atlanta, Boston, Tampa, Los Angeles, Austin, Houston, Dallas, and Seattle. There is no need to recheck-in bags for connections on Alaska Airlines flights.
The added advantage of the Alaska-Air India interline partnership is that Alaska Airlines honors Air India’s generous check-in baggage allowance. Air India’s checked baggage policy for international flights applies to connecting itineraries across the United States. There are United-Air India interline flights from Seattle, Dallas, Los Angeles, and Atlanta. But United Airlines’ single-checked-bag policy applies to its interline flights with Air India.
Travelers from 26 cities in the US and 6 cities in Mexico can connect on Air India flights to India through San Francisco in the West Coast. They can experience the brand new service on Air India flights from San Francisco to India. B777-200LRs (leased from Delta) with Premium Economy offer cozy seating, generous legroom, soothing interior, and modern inflight entertainment system on SFO to Mumbai, Delhi, and BLR routes.
