Code share is not a shared concept

Jane Engle’s article “When It Comes to Airline Code Shares: Buyers, Beware” [Travel Insider, Nov. 7] had many valid points.

It is important to note, however, that different airlines have varied philosophies on how they view code shares, both whether as an operating carrier and or as a marketing carrier (one whose code is on another’s carrier).

The concept of code share and the airline industry itself have evolved dramatically since the inception of code share in the late 1980s. The original concept was based around overcoming the biased display characteristics of the travel agent booking systems. Now it is more about alliances, route network issues and frequent-flier loyalty programs.

The customer service issues Engle raised vary by airline. At Qantas we handle all code share customer issues as if we were the operating carrier. We also treat our code share partners’ customers as our own. Unfortunately, this is not the case with all airlines.

Engle did her research and gave worthwhile advice.

Howard Goldberg

vice president, Marketing & Leisure Sales,

Qantas Airways

Los Angeles