Why Qantas Flies a Nonstop Every Day Between New York and Los Angeles
Photo Credit: A Qantas Boeing 747 takes off from Los Angeles. Qantas flies daily from Los Angeles to New York, and back. Flickr / Wilco737
Skift Take
Tag flights — when an airline lands in one international city and then almost immediately takes off for another — are disappearing from aviation as more airlines launch ultra-long-haul nonstops that make the stop unnecessary. But Qantas will probably keep its Los Angeles-New York nonstop for awhile.
If you want to impress your friends with aviation trivia, tell them about Qantas flights 11 and 12, operating the carrier's daily route between New York and Los Angeles.
You can only buy them if you combine the legs with a nonstop to Australia, a trick that allows Qantas to sell one-stops, with a connection in L.A., to travelers going to and from New York.
The route was in the news last week, with the U.S. Department of Transportation fining Qantas as much as $125,000, because in 2015 and 2016 instead of flying only its own passengers between New York and L.A., it carried passengers with onward long-haul tickets on two partner airlines. Qantas argued those passengers could fly on its U.S. domestic route because they had bought international itineraries through Qantas and the partner flights carried Qantas flight numbers.
This is a minor matter. But the incident highlights what's probably the most unusual U.S. domestic route. The United States, like most countries, bans foreign
