Level Becomes Its Own Airline, and Some Passengers May Be Rebooked on Other Carriers

Level, the low-cost, long-haul airline of the IAG group headed by British Airways and Iberia, is in the process of becoming its own independent carrier. So far, it had been simply a brand operated by Iberia — in Level colors but with Iberia planes and crews.

A consequence of this transition is that passengers who booked Level flights through American Airlines in May may be rebooked on a different airline in the same loyalty ecosystem.

Because Level is a low-cost airline where everything besides the seat costs extra, this might mean that they get moved to a better, full-service carrier.

Let’s look at why this is happening and how you might be affected.

Level Goes It Alone, and What This Means for You

Level is about to become the fifth airline within IAG, after British Airways, Iberia, Vueling, and Aer Lingus.

This affects U.S.-based flyers because Level connects Barcelona (BCN) in Spain with 5 U.S. destinations: New York-JFK, Boston (BOS), Los Angeles (LAX), Miami (MIA), and San Francisco (SFO). It also serves Santiago (SCL) in Chile and Buenos Aires (EZE) in Argentina from Barcelona, where it wants to become the hometown airline for long-hauls.

To become an independent carrier, it needs its own Air Operator Certificate (AOC), instead of relying on Iberia’s. That means passing safety and corporate governance audits by Spanish aviation authorities. While that goes on, American Airlines has decided to suspend its codesharing with Level for the month of May, as reported by View From the Wing.

The U.S. carrier codeshares with Level between Barcelona and Boston, New York, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. Level was founded in 2017 as the low-cost, long-haul arm of Iberia, which is a close partner of American’s in the Oneworld alliance, so it makes sense to codeshare.

According to an American Airlines internal document shared by VFTW, for flights on Level in May booked on American, reservation agents have the option of rebooking passengers on the same flight but using the American-Iberia codeshare. This would not change anything for the passenger in terms of what they experience on board and on the ground. That’s also what will happen to most customers booked to fly Level via an American Airlines codeshare, American Airlines said in a email to UP.

However, if a seat is not available in the same cabin under the American-Iberia codeshare, people may get rebooked on different airlines. This is where things could get interesting, because it could mean flying American or British Airways, offering better seats and service. The catch is that there would almost certainly be a connection involved.

“We plan to resume codeshare activities once LEVEL has completed the process. Impacted customers have been proactively notified of this adjustment,” American Airlines said in that email.

At this point, Level is still flying under Iberia flight codes.

Level flies a small, 7-airplane fleet of Airbus A330-200s. According to fleet-tracking sites, the top class on most of these planes is a premium economy configured in a 2-3-2 layout with recliners or 2-2-2 with angled-flat seats.

However, there are 2 of those A330s with actual lie-flat seats, although the airline still calls this premium economy — rather than business. While it costs the same as the other, lesser seats, you can’t really be sure that you will get the lie-flats, as Level’s various cabin configurations serve all of its destinations interchangeably.

Final Thoughts

Level, the Spanish low-cost, long-haul airline, is going it alone as a small, independent carrier, but it will remain within the same airline group and loyalty ecosystem. For a month, this process might bring an unexpected upgrade for people who booked Level flights via American Airlines.