AA-BA Alliance May Need Agency

By Kevin McCormack and Steve Krajewski
NEW YORK–American Airlines and British Airways are in the formative stages of devising a strategy to market a joint venture to carry one another’s passengers, pending regulatory approval of the plan.
Should it be approved, spending could reach $90 million globally, sources said.
Currently, it is not clear whether the roster agencies of the partnership, which includes Qantas Airways, will be invited to pitch the business or will be excluded in an effort to “depoliticize” the process, sources said.
American and BA are the dominant carriers and contributors to the proposed alliance.