Are You Taking Advantage of Your Airline Alliance?

Earlier this month, Alaska Airlines announced it will join the Oneworld Alliance, forming a partnership with founding member American Airlines that will begin in summer 2021.

Alaska will become the 14^th member of Oneworld, marking the company’s first-ever alliance membership.

Alliances can bring significant benefits to travelers. Many, including the Alaska-American agreement, offer full access to members’ frequent flyer programs and airport lounges.

“Alaska has always been proud to serve Seattle, the city that we call home,” said Ben Minicucci, Alaska Airlines president, in a statement. “We’re thrilled to give our guests more choice, broader use of loyalty benefits and seamless global service with American and Oneworld.”

The ‘Big Three’

Alliances are conglomerates of carriers with varying levels of agreements in place to create an interconnected network for travelers worldwide.

The alliance concept was developed in the late 1990s because airlines were limited on growth, either because they didn’t have enough available aircraft or were unable to make new markets profitable.

The first group, Star Alliance, formed in 1997, with founding members Air Canada, Lufthansa, Thai Airways and United Airlines. At the time, it was viewed as a revolutionary change in the airline industry. The alliance now has 26 full members and 40 affiliates.

The second major alliance, Oneworld, was launched in 1999 by several carriers, including American and British Airways. SkyTeam formed a year later.

Currently, Oneworld has 13 members, with Royal Air Maroc joining in April 2020 and Alaska in 2021. SkyTeam boasts 19 members, including Delta Air Lines, Aeromexico, Air France and Aeroflot.

Why work together?

Alliances work to bring a consistent level of service to travelers. Most carriers within an alliance have at least interline agreements in place with each other, and—depending on the route—frequent flyer miles from one airline can be used for flights on another partner. Airport lounges can also be shared, although it usually depends on the traveler’s status with the alliance.

Oneworld CEO Rob Gurney explained that alliances provide an ecosystem for airlines to collaborate and learn from one another, and also provide a foundation for airlines to develop successful joint ventures.

“From a business perspective, alliances like Oneworld have paved the way for even more collaboration between airlines,”