I flew long-haul economy on both American Airlines and British Airways to see which was better

British Airways American Airlines LHR jekjob/Shutterstock

With dozens of flights a day operated by several major airlines, the New York–London route is a fiercely competitive one.
American Airlines and British Airways operate a trans-Atlantic joint venture, and together offer the most flights a day between the two cities.
I recently flew a round-trip with one flight operated by American Airlines, and one by British Airways. Here's how they compared.

American Airlines and British Airways have been relatively tight-knit partners since at least 1999, when the Oneworld airline alliance launched.

They became even more intertwined in 2010 when they formed a trans-Atlantic joint venture — along with fellow Oneworld member and Spanish flag carrier Iberia. Unlike alliance or code-share partners, joint venture partners collaborate to set routes and prices, and operate specific routes together as one business with immunity from anti-trust regulations.

Effects of the joint venture are seen more clearly on the high-demand New York City — London route than almost anywhere else. Flown dozens of times a day by at least seven different airlines, the route is a competitive one, attracting both cost-saving leisure travelers looking for the most cost-effective way to fly families across the Atlantic, and business travelers who book high-cost last-minute tickets for urgent meetings and conferences.

However, despite competition from other airlines flying the busy New York–London route, the American Airlines and British Airways joint venture dominates, partly because of the number of flights they operate on the route — about 15 on an average weekday, which is more than any competing airline offers.

The joint venture is tight-knit and seamless enough that when you search for flights on one of the airlines' websites, results from both airlines appear, indistinguishable from each other aside from a tiny note staying that the flight is operated by the partner. That's how my wife and I ended up with an outbound flight operated by American Airlines, and a return flight on British Airways metal. I bought the tickets through British Airways during a sale.

Not only did we fly a leg on each airline — we had a chance to fly the same exact type of plane, a Boeing 777-200. Although I usually fly between New York and the UK once a year or so, I hadn't flown a long-haul American Airlines flight in economy in a while, and my last flight on British Airways, which was a few years ago, was on a different type of plane — a 747-400. So, I was curious to see how the experiences compared.

While both the American Airlines day-time flight to Heathrow, and the British Airways afternoon flight out of London Gatwick were pleasant, here's how they compared in a direct head-to-head.

Check in: American Airlines

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Check-in for American Airlines was so fast that I forgot to take a photo. Admittedly, the morning flight wasn't the busiest time for American's international routes, although plenty of domestic flights leave from JFK's terminal 8 throughout the day.

After we got our boarding passes and dropped off our bags, we ended up stuck behind a (surprisingly large) Cathay Pacific crew at security. We also had TSA PreCheck, which sped the process up.

Check-in: British Airways

David Slotnick/Business Insider

British Airways at Gatwick was...less speedy. There were only two agents working for the entire economy queue, and even if you checked in online, you still needed to have your passport inspected at the desk. It took us 45 minutes to get to the end of the line, and security added another 10 minutes or so before we reached the main terminal.

I've had better experiences at Heathrow, which is more of a hub for international business travelers than Gatwick, but the whole process here was jarringly inefficient.

Check-in winner: American Airlines

Lounge experience: American Airlines at JFK

David Slotnick/Business Insider

International first and business class passengers flying American have access to new flagship lounges and dining options at certain airports. But even if you're flying coach, you can access the Admiral's Club lounges by holding a membership, certain credit cards, or high-level elite status. We enjoyed complimentary coffee, breakfast, and comfortable reclined seats overlooking the tarmac.

The lounge was only sparsely filled, likely because most of American's long-haul flights depart later in the day. This particular lounge, in JFK Terminal 8's B-concourse, is set to close in September, so that the Flagship lounge can expand. There will still be a regular Admirals Club in the B-concourse, though.

See the rest of the story at Business Insider

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