Interlining
Encyclopedia
Interlining is a voluntary commercial agreement between individual airline
s to handle passengers traveling on itineraries that require multiple airlines.
Interline agreements are directional. For example it may be possible for American Airlines
to be the plating carrier on an American-United
itinerary but United might not be able to be the plating carrier on the same itinerary.
Airlines that have been established for many years are sometimes called "legacy", "network", or "full service airlines." Previously, only large network carriers such as United Airlines and Lufthansa would have electronic ticket interline agreements but the recent IATA mandate to eliminate paper tickets by the end of 2007 has changed this by forcing smaller carriers to implement electronic ticketing. For example, United Airlines has an interline ticketing agreement with competitors American Airlines and British Airways. Smaller legacy carriers commonly have interline agreements with large network carriers that fly into their markets. Most newer low-cost carrier airlines that only sell directly to consumers (and not through agencies or GDS systems) do not support interlining at all. For example, United Airlines does not have an interline agreement with Southwest Airlines or Easyjet.
If no interline ticketing agreement exists (such as with Southwest and United Airlines) then two separate tickets will need to be issued and passengers will have to retrieve their bags and carry it to the connecting airline for check-in. Itineraries with interline connections such as this (whether issued on a single ticket or two tickets) are risky for travelers since the second carrier may be unaware of delays or issues with the incoming flight and it is more likely for luggage to be lost.
Most online travel agencies will only display itineraries that can be ticketed on one of their booking systems. However Orbitz.com will sometimes display un-ticketable interline itineraries. Examples could be found previously on routes to Mexico involving the now defunct Aero California or may be currently found on routes to Indonesia involving Lion Air. These display on Orbitz
as "contact airline to buy".
or SkyTeam
almost always have interline agreements with each other. However even direct competitors can benefit from interline agreements. When a ticket is issued for an interline itinerary, one of the carriers marketing flights in that itinerary will be selected by the ticketing agent as the "plating carrier". The plating carrier collects the entire fare from the customer and is responsible for distributing the proceeds to other carriers in that itinerary only as those carriers carry the passenger. A plating carrier therefore gets the benefit of cash flow. The non-plating carriers avoid paying the credit card interchange fees and make some revenue in a situation where they might not have made any. Only the plating carrier is responsible for paying commission to the issuing agency, and only based on the fare associated with the portion of the itinerary flown by the plating carrier. So non-plating participants in interline itineraries may also be able to avoid paying any commission to the selling agent. The selling agent can also elect to issue separate tickets for each leg of the flight, collecting each carrier's commission on each ticket, and this could result in an inconvenience for the passenger as luggage may not be transferred.
Normal fare construction rules state that an international ticket should be issued on plated on the first international carrier. There are some exceptions; for example, if the first international is a codeshare flight, the first non-codeshare would be used.
When changes need to be made to a nonrefundable interline ticket, only the plating carrier must be included in the new itinerary. Other carriers may be added or dropped as needed to build the new itinerary.
Airline
An airline provides air transport services for traveling passengers and freight. Airlines lease or own their aircraft with which to supply these services and may form partnerships or alliances with other airlines for mutual benefit...
s to handle passengers traveling on itineraries that require multiple airlines.
Agreements
Interlining agreements differ from codesharing agreements in that codesharing agreements usually refers to numbering a flight with the airline's code (abbreviation) even though the flight is operated by another airline. However, codeshare relationships can affect whether an interline ticket (or e-ticket) can be issued. Both the codeshare marketing carrier and codeshare operating carrier must have interline agreements with all other carriers in the itinerary to allow a single ticket to be issued.Interline agreements are directional. For example it may be possible for American Airlines
American Airlines
American Airlines, Inc. is the world's fourth-largest airline in passenger miles transported and operating revenues. American Airlines is a subsidiary of the AMR Corporation and is headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas adjacent to its largest hub at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport...
to be the plating carrier on an American-United
United Airlines
United Air Lines, Inc., is the world's largest airline with 86,852 employees United Air Lines, Inc., is the world's largest airline with 86,852 employees United Air Lines, Inc., is the world's largest airline with 86,852 employees (which includes the entire holding company United Continental...
itinerary but United might not be able to be the plating carrier on the same itinerary.
Airlines that have been established for many years are sometimes called "legacy", "network", or "full service airlines." Previously, only large network carriers such as United Airlines and Lufthansa would have electronic ticket interline agreements but the recent IATA mandate to eliminate paper tickets by the end of 2007 has changed this by forcing smaller carriers to implement electronic ticketing. For example, United Airlines has an interline ticketing agreement with competitors American Airlines and British Airways. Smaller legacy carriers commonly have interline agreements with large network carriers that fly into their markets. Most newer low-cost carrier airlines that only sell directly to consumers (and not through agencies or GDS systems) do not support interlining at all. For example, United Airlines does not have an interline agreement with Southwest Airlines or Easyjet.
If no interline ticketing agreement exists (such as with Southwest and United Airlines) then two separate tickets will need to be issued and passengers will have to retrieve their bags and carry it to the connecting airline for check-in. Itineraries with interline connections such as this (whether issued on a single ticket or two tickets) are risky for travelers since the second carrier may be unaware of delays or issues with the incoming flight and it is more likely for luggage to be lost.
Most online travel agencies will only display itineraries that can be ticketed on one of their booking systems. However Orbitz.com will sometimes display un-ticketable interline itineraries. Examples could be found previously on routes to Mexico involving the now defunct Aero California or may be currently found on routes to Indonesia involving Lion Air. These display on Orbitz
Orbitz
Orbitz Worldwide, Inc. is an Internet travel company headquartered in the Citigroup Center in Near West Side, Chicago, Illinois. Through its primary web site Orbitz.com, Orbitz Worldwide enables travelers to research, plan and book a broad range of travel products, facilitating 1.5 million flight...
as "contact airline to buy".
Participating airlines
Carriers that participate in airline alliances such as Star AllianceStar Alliance
Star Alliance is the world's first and largest airline alliance, headquartered in Frankfurt am Main, Germany . The alliance was founded in 1997 by five of the world's leading airlines: Air Canada, Lufthansa, Scandinavian Airlines, Thai Airways International and United Airlines...
or SkyTeam
SkyTeam
SkyTeam, branded as SKYTEAM, is an airline alliance with its centralised management team, SkyTeam Central, based at the World Trade Center Schiphol Airport on the grounds of Amsterdam Airport Schiphol in Haarlemmermeer, Netherlands...
almost always have interline agreements with each other. However even direct competitors can benefit from interline agreements. When a ticket is issued for an interline itinerary, one of the carriers marketing flights in that itinerary will be selected by the ticketing agent as the "plating carrier". The plating carrier collects the entire fare from the customer and is responsible for distributing the proceeds to other carriers in that itinerary only as those carriers carry the passenger. A plating carrier therefore gets the benefit of cash flow. The non-plating carriers avoid paying the credit card interchange fees and make some revenue in a situation where they might not have made any. Only the plating carrier is responsible for paying commission to the issuing agency, and only based on the fare associated with the portion of the itinerary flown by the plating carrier. So non-plating participants in interline itineraries may also be able to avoid paying any commission to the selling agent. The selling agent can also elect to issue separate tickets for each leg of the flight, collecting each carrier's commission on each ticket, and this could result in an inconvenience for the passenger as luggage may not be transferred.
Normal fare construction rules state that an international ticket should be issued on plated on the first international carrier. There are some exceptions; for example, if the first international is a codeshare flight, the first non-codeshare would be used.
When changes need to be made to a nonrefundable interline ticket, only the plating carrier must be included in the new itinerary. Other carriers may be added or dropped as needed to build the new itinerary.