Originally Posted by
toyotaboy95
oneworld has a much different aim than SkyTeam (which is called the 'leftover alliance'). oneworld wants a smaller alliance (less intra-alliance competition) with quality carriers, and competition laws would surely prevent such a merger.
While I'm Sapphire with QF and love my AA miles and have a preference for OW, a lot of OW is marketing spin. Cathay seems to loathe that it is in the same alliance as QF or AA and has actively prevented expansion of OW in Asia (hence Hainan is still non-aligned). And the "quality" claim always amuses me (perhaps "arrogant" is more apt), when QF long haul economy has less seat pitch that SQ regional, QF converts its flights to it's "quality" LCC Jetstar, the torture of CX economy seats on any flight over an hour, Air Berlin is accepted, Iberia loses your bags, and, well, AA.
What SkyTeam seems to do better than other airlines is raise their members. When Korean joined it was a laughing stock for a variety of reasons including safety, now I would pick them over CX long-haul in economy in a heartbeat (although I'd even pick AA or UA over those awful CX seats). The cooperation they offer almost had JAL move until a catastrophic bankruptcy and initial change costs put paid to that.