SkyTeam - Should Skyteam and Oneworld merge?

Now that CO has jumped ship do you think Skyteam and Oneworld will consider merging in order to trump *A ?

I apologize in advance if this has already been discussed, I was not able to locate a thread on this topic

Now that CO has jumped ship do you think Skyteam and Oneworld will consider merging in order to trump *A ?

I apologize in advance if this has already been discussed, I was not able to locate a thread on this topic

Why?

ST seems to be trying to bring on board whoever is willing but OW doesn't appear desparate to overtake *A, which is near impossible at the rate *A is expanding anyhow...

And any merger between alliances would not be possible from an anti-trust perspective. The big three European groups (LH+LX+OS+SN+BD+SK, BA+IB, KL+AF+AZ) are building empires already to the point that EU competition authorities are more than interested; each of the big three is partnering with one or more of the US large carriers (UA+US+CO, AA and DL+NW) which raised enough anti-trust issues already.

Instead, expect the big three to search for smaller partners to close the gaps in their networks. And the big prizes remain the Middle-East carriers that for now aren't too interested in alliance building with the Europeans for good reason.

And the big prizes remain the Middle-East carriers that for now aren't too interested in alliance building with the Europeans for good reason.I am curious , why do you consider them to be big prizes ? They bring no new markets and have small home populations , all they would do to an alliance is cannibalize their partners home markets .

Now that CO has jumped ship do you think Skyteam and Oneworld will consider merging in order to trump *A ?

The key question for airlines is have full aircraft at the most profitable rate.

To do this, 3 tools have been developed: yield management, hubs and alliances (which provide a multiplier of destination choices at lower cost for the airlines)

Airlines alliances were formed around large global companies (British Airways, Lufthansa and Air France) in this perspective.

I do not see how the departure of Continental from Skyteam alters the picture (especially as the Air France KLM Delta Northwest joint venture is very strong on the lucrative transatlantic market).

Furthermore, any changes in scope of alliance is very costly in terms of IT investments, and thus constitutes an obstacle to major changes.

The challenge for Air France KLM is now partnering with operators from emerging markets who will be major tomorrow.

i don't really think ST fulfills OW's mission of "quality". Also, OW is not looking at packing each member so closely (minimizing member-member route conflicts), as seen in *A.

I am curious , why do you consider them to be big prizes ? They bring no new markets and have small home populations , all they would do to an alliance is cannibalize their partners home markets .

Big prize is from the perspective of the M&M/FB/BAEC member. Would I fly AF/KL/LH/LX if I could fly EK/EY and earn FB/M&M miles?

Big prize is from the perspective of the M&M/FB/BAEC member. Would I fly AF/KL/LH/LX if I could fly EK/EY and earn FB/M&M miles?

That makes more sense , I misunderstood your previous post , I thought you meant that those airlines would be big prizes from the alliances point of view . Of course the very reason why pax would want those carriers in a global alliance is exactly the reason why none of the global alliances would want to have them .

ST has leaped over OW, and may be soon grabbing JAL, why on earth would they want to merge?