Alaska eyes joint ventures, Latin America partnerships

The carrier also plans to “deepen” its partnership with American Airlines.

A joint venture could be in Alaska Airlines’ future, as the Seattle carrier views such a partnership as a logical step toward further expanding its international presence.

“Now that we are a global carrier, it’s kind of the next stage of partnerships,” Alex Judson, managing director of partnerships and international at Alaska, said at the IATA Annual General Meeting in Rio de Janeiro on 7 June.

Alaska is a member of the Oneworld alliance and a close codeshare and loyalty partner of American Airlines.

The carrier’s chief executive Ben Minicucci said in May that the airline is looking at a closer relationship with American.

“We’re going to deepen our relationship [with American] and make sure Alaska is as successful as we can be as we launch global flights,” he said.

American has three joint businesses that could appeal to Alaska as a potential member. Those include a Europe-US business with British Airways, Finnair and Iberia; an Australia-US concern with Qantas Airways; and a Japan-US operation with Japan Airlines. Membership in any of the pacts would require antitrust approval from US and other regulators.

Alaska serves London and Rome in Europe, Sydney in Australia, and Osaka and Tokyo in Japan, schedule data from aviation analytics provider Cirium Diio shows. Honolulu and Seattle are the carrier’s main intercontinental gateways.

As Alaska weighs joint-venture membership, it is also seeking a new Latin American partner. The airline ended a long-standing tie-up with LATAM Airlines in October 2025, and while many of its remaining partners fly to the region, none fly within it.

“Stay tuned,” says Judson when asked about Alaska’s Latin America plans. “We’ve known it’s been a gap since we ended [the LATAM] relationship”.

Oneworld lacks a member in Latin America but American, the largest US airline to the region, has equity partnerships with JetSmart in Chile and Gol in Brazil.