"The Oneworld Alliance has been sort of shook up" by the BAB-KLM courtship, said analyst Glenn Engel at Goldman Sachs. "The meeting gets everyone on the same page and moving forward."

Ray Neidl, an analyst at ING Barings, said, "I don't think there are going to be any major breakthroughs until the US and UK reach an agreement." AMR and BA have been stymied by regulators on both sides of the Atlantic.

AMR spokesman Mark Kienzle said that the alliance efforts would NOT be on the agenda at the two-day summit, which starts Wednesday in Atlanta.