Daily Briefing, 22 July 2026: IAG's Gallego Takes the Oneworld Chair, RAM Lands at LAX, and the Tenerife Avios Window Closes
· 2026-07-22
IAG's Luis Gallego becomes Oneworld Chairman from 1 September, Royal Air Maroc becomes the alliance's 11th carrier at LAX, Philippine Airlines signs a new Rolls-Royce A350 engine deal at Farnborough, and the fully-bookable Avios-only fares to Tenerife and Reykjavik are running out. Today's full Avios roundup.
A new Oneworld chair, a Dreamliner touches down at LAX, and one Avios window slamming shut.
IAG's Luis Gallego takes over the Oneworld chairmanship from American's Robert Isom on 1 September, Royal Air Maroc becomes the alliance's 11th carrier at LAX, Philippine Airlines backs its Dreamliner order with a fresh Rolls-Royce engine deal at Farnborough, and the fully-bookable Avios-only fares to Tenerife and Reykjavik are running out. Here is everything that moved today.
Tuesday's alliance news is the kind that actually matters for how Oneworld runs, not just who gets a headline. IAG's Luis Gallego moves into the chair from British Airways and Iberia's own parent company, Royal Air Maroc's Casablanca–LAX route quietly makes LAX one of the most Oneworld-dense airports in North America, and Philippine Airlines keeps signing real engine contracts months ahead of full integration. On the Avios side, today is a deadline day more than a discovery day: the fully-bookable Tenerife and Reykjavik fares we flagged earlier this week are thinning out fast, while a genuinely solid LHR–LAX sweet spot and a reminder about Qantas's late-release habit round out the redemption picture.
IAG's Luis Gallego takes the Oneworld chair
Yesterday, the Oneworld Governing Board elected Luis Gallego — CEO of International Airlines Group (IAG), the parent company of British Airways and Iberia — as the alliance's new Chairman. He takes over from American Airlines CEO Robert Isom on 1 September. Oneworld's chairmanship rotates among member-airline chief executives, so this is less a change in strategy than a change in whose desk the tie-breaking vote sits on — but it is a notable shift back to Europe at a moment when the alliance's growth (Royal Air Maroc, Hawaiian, and Philippine Airlines all inside the last eighteen months) has been driven largely from outside it.
A rotating chairmanship rarely changes strategy on its own. What it changes is which airline's priorities get the benefit of the doubt in a tie.
Royal Air Maroc becomes the 11th Oneworld carrier at LAX
Royal Air Maroc has officially launched its summer service between Casablanca and Los Angeles, running the route three times a week on Boeing 787 Dreamliners. That makes it the 11th Oneworld member operating out of LAX — a meaningful concentration of alliance metal at a single US gateway, and a genuinely useful new option if you're building a creative routing into North Africa or onward to the Middle East from the West Coast rather than backtracking through London or Doha.
Philippine Airlines doubles down at Farnborough
Following yesterday's news of PAL's large Boeing 787 Dreamliner order, the carrier used the Farnborough Airshow to announce a further deal with Rolls-Royce to power nine additional Airbus A350-1000 aircraft. Taken together with the Dreamliner commitment, this is a fleet build-out on a scale that only makes sense if PAL is planning to operate real long-haul capacity inside Oneworld once full integration lands — realistically a 2027 event, not something that changes what flying PAL metal earns you today.
The Avios-only window to Tenerife and Reykjavik is closing
No major new promos or terms overnight, but a firm reminder on the Avios-only flights to London–Tenerife and London–Reykjavik we flagged earlier this week: availability is predictably starting to dry up, especially on the Tenerife route over the October half-term. If you were weighing up one of those fully-bookable cabins, today is likely your last realistic chance before the prime dates disappear entirely.
An Avios sweet spot to LAX, and the Qantas pattern worth remembering
Speaking of Los Angeles — we're currently seeing solid Avios availability in Economy (World Traveller) from London (LHR) to LAX starting at just 33,000 Avios plus taxes and fees, for dates this coming winter. A good baseline redemption if you want to lock in some West Coast sun without waiting for a rare Business Class release.
Separately, the last-minute Qantas availability to Hong Kong we flagged earlier this week has largely been snapped up — but it's a useful reminder of the underlying pattern: Qantas consistently releases unsold premium cabins around the T-minus 2–3 day mark. If your schedule is genuinely flexible, that habit is worth keeping in your back pocket for future Asian or trans-Pacific trips.
The alliance news builds the next two years. The Avios news is a today-or-never problem.
Gallego's chairmanship and PAL's engine order are both slow-moving stories that matter more in 2027 than this week. What's actually actionable right now: book Tenerife or Reykjavik today if you were on the fence, grab the LHR–LAX Economy sweet spot at 33,000 Avios while it's sitting there, and keep the Qantas T-minus-2-to-3-day pattern in mind for the next time you need a flexible premium seat to Asia.