Code-sharing agreements and path quality in the US airline industry

When appraising code-sharing partnerships, policymakers are primarily interested in how such marketing arrangements affect prices. Expectedly, the pricing effects of code-sharing have been abundantly studied. This paper examines the impact of codeshare agreements on the itinerary routing of airline products in U.S. domestic markets. Using data from the U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics, the author identifies two main findings. First, consistent with the literature, they find that the overwhelming majority of domestic code-share itineraries involve a single operating carrier, a practice they refer to as virtual code-sharing. Second, and most importantly, they find that virtual (traditional) codeshare itineraries are associated with better (worse) path quality relative to itineraries marketed and operated by a single carrier in the same market. The path quality effects the author finds come from different sources. In the case of virtual code-sharing, the positive path quality effects come from both short- and long-haul markets whereas in the case of traditional code-sharing, the negative path quality effects originate from long-haul markets.

Language

  • English

Media Info

Subject/Index Terms

Filing Info

  • Accession Number: 01837907
  • Record Type: Publication
  • Files: TRIS
  • Created Date: Feb 28 2022 9:53AM