Whew. I first flew EK in 1999 (no FF program I believe at that time). I had to go to LHR for that flight. I won't say that EK has gotten better as it becomes a big airline, but whatever has happened (10 across, low wage labor, not very good miles accrual program, etc.) is what has happened to most airlines as they grow.

These activities are just heating up so fast. The article mentions that EK has recently aligned up with QF, AS and B6. All three partners are AA friendly which is very, very important.

However, let's be clear here. The FF partnership have lagged way behind. Accrual has happened, but redemption has been no dice in any reasonable (to me) time frame. So, if the primarily value for folks here is any type of redemption to EK, to me, this would be far out there. If it is accrual on EK metal, much more possible soon.

Personally, I do not expect EK to join OW. Yet, all of their recent tie-ups have been with OW-friendly groups (well, not friendly to BA I would say).

I have been looking at AA's route map in the magazine and noticed this "part of the world" network hole. While UA has established routes into some of these places, AA has not or has even pulled out (DEL comes to mind). AA and EK definitely make more sense than EK with UA/CO ever did. Remember, EK used to be DL partners too.

Rasheed