Airline alliance

An airline alliance is an aviation industry arrangement between two or more airlines agreeing to cooperate on a substantial level. Alliances may provide marketing branding to facilitate travelers making inter-airline codeshare connections within countries. This branding may involve unified aircraft liveries of member aircraft.
In 2015, Star Alliance was the largest with 23% of total scheduled traffic in revenue passenger kilometres (RPKs)/revenue passenger miles (RPMs), followed by SkyTeam with 20.4% and Oneworld with 17.8%, leaving % for others. In 2019, by number of passengers, Star Alliance was leading 762 million, followed by SkyTeam and Oneworld.

Rationale

Benefits can consist of an extended network, often realised through codeshare agreements. Many alliances started as only codeshare networks. Cost reductions come from sharing operation facilities, operation staff, investments and purchases. Traveler benefits can include lower prices due to lowered operational costs for a given route, different times to choose from, more destinations within easy reach, shorter travel times, more options of airport lounges shared with alliance members, fast track access on all alliance members if having frequent flyer status, faster mileage rewards by earning miles for a single account on several different carriers, round-the-world tickets, enabling travellers to fly over the world for a relatively low price.
Airline alliances may also create disadvantages for the traveller, such as higher prices when competition is erased on a certain route or less frequent flights; for instance, if two airlines separately fly three and two times a day respectively on a shared route, their alliance might fly less than 5 times a day on the same route. This might be especially true between hub cities for each airline. e.g., flights between Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport and Amsterdam Airport Schiphol.

History

The first airline alliance was formed in the 1930s, when Panair do Brasil and its parent company Pan American World Airways agreed to exchange routes to Latin America.
The first large alliance began in 1989, when Northwest Airlines and KLM agreed to large-scale codesharing. In 1992, the Netherlands signed the first open skies agreement with the United States, in spite of objections from the European Union, which gave both countries unrestricted landing rights on the other's soil. Normally landing rights are granted for a fixed number of flights per week to a fixed destination. Each adjustment requires negotiations, often between governments rather than between the companies involved. In return, the United States granted antitrust immunity to the alliance between Northwest Airlines and KLM. This alliance continues to exist today with KLM as a SkyTeam member and Northwest's successor airline Delta also being a member. Other alliances would struggle for years to overcome the transnational barriers and lack of antitrust immunity, and still do so.
On May 14, 1997, an agreement was announced forming the Star Alliance with five airlines on three continents: United Airlines, Scandinavian Airlines, Thai Airways International, Air Canada, and Lufthansa. The alliance chose Young & Rubicam for advertising, with a budget of $25 million. which brought competing airlines to form Oneworld in 1999 and SkyTeam in 2000.
In 2010 Richard Branson, chairman of the Virgin Group, announced his intention to form a fourth alliance among Virgin branded airlines. Then in September 2011, Branson said that Virgin Atlantic would join one of the existing alliances; this idea was repeated in October 2012. In December 2012, Delta Air Lines purchased Singapore Airlines' 49% stake in Virgin Atlantic for £224 million. Virgin America was absorbed into Alaska Airlines by 2018, which joined the Oneworld alliance in 2021. Meanwhile, Virgin Atlantic joined SkyTeam in 2023.
On February 14, 2013, it was announced that American Airlines and US Airways would merge, retaining the American Airlines name and would remain in the Oneworld alliance. US Airways' participation in Star Alliance lapsed. In 2012, in South America, LAN Airlines and TAM Airlines began their merger. In March 2014, with the merger complete, TAM left Star Alliance and became part of LAN in Oneworld.
On September 21, 2015, the Vanilla Alliance was formed between several airlines based in the Indian Ocean region, in order to improve air connectivity within the region. The founding members were Air Austral, Air Mauritius, Air Madagascar, Air Seychelles, and Int'Air Îles.
U-FLY Alliance, the first alliance of low-cost carriers, was formed in January 2016, comprising HK Express, Lucky Air, Urumqi Air, and West Air. In May 2016, the world's largest alliance of LCCs was formed, Value Alliance, including founding members Cebu Pacific, Cebgo, Jeju Air, Nok Air, NokScoot, Scoot, Tigerair, Tigerair Australia and Vanilla Air. Neither alliance remains active as of 2025.

Current alliances

Star Alliance Connecting Partners

Juneyao Air, 2017

Star Alliance Intermodal Partnership

Deutsche Bahn, 2022
Austrian Federal Railways, 2025

Oneworld

Oneworld, founded in 1999, currently has 15 members:
Alaska Airlines, 2021

American Airlines, founder

British Airways, founder

Cathay Pacific, founder

Fiji Airways, 2025

Finnair, 1999

Iberia, 1999

Japan Airlines, 2007

Malaysia Airlines, 2013

Oman Air, 2025

Qantas, founder

Qatar Airways, 2013

Royal Air Maroc, 2020

Royal Jordanian, 2007

SriLankan Airlines, 2014
Future members:

Hawaiian Airlines, 2026
Starlux Airlines, 2026 or 2027

Former members:

SkyTeam

SkyTeam, founded in 2000, currently has 18 members:
Aerolíneas Argentinas, 2012

Aeroméxico, founder

Air Europa, 2007

Air France, founder

China Airlines, 2011

China Eastern Airlines, 2011

Delta Air Lines, founder

Garuda Indonesia, 2014

Kenya Airways, 2007

KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, 2004

Korean Air, founder

Middle East Airlines, 2012

Saudia, 2012

Scandinavian Airlines, 2024

TAROM, 2010

Vietnam Airlines, 2010

Virgin Atlantic, 2023

XiamenAir, 2012

Former members:

Vanilla Alliance

Vanilla Alliance, founded in 2015, currently has 4 members:

Air Austral, founder

Madagascar Airlines, founder

Air Mauritius, founder

Air Seychelles, founder

Former members:
Int'Air Îles, founder, 2015–2024, defunct

Former alliances

U-FLY Alliance

U-FLY Alliance, founded in 2016, had 4 members:
Eastar Jet, 2016

Lucky Air, founder

Urumqi Air, founder

West Air, founder
Former members:

HK Express, 2016–2019, founder, acquired by Cathay Pacific in 2019.

Value Alliance

Value Alliance, founded in 2016, had 5 members:
Cebu Pacific, founder

Cebgo, founder

Jeju Air, founder

Nok Air, founder

Scoot, founder
Former members:

NokScoot, 2016–2020, defunct
Tigerair, 2016–2017, merged with Scoot
Tigerair Australia, 2016–2018, founder
Vanilla Air, 2016–2019, founder, merged with Peach Aviation