Originally Posted by Andrius
Seriously, I do not think there is anything intrinsically bad about Sky Team, but I just find it difficult to take an alliance very seriously if its core members are Air France and Alitalia.
Why? AF is massive (isn't it the biggest airline in the world?) and they 've been making quite a bit of money recently. That means somebody must be flying them. I can't imagine loads of people buying a service they aren't satisfied with. And AZ's network and J-class offers aren't too bad either.
Originally Posted by Andrius
there is little that can compare with consistent and reliable insolvency and industrial relations news feed generated by Alitalia and AF.
It appears you haven't been reading the news recently. It's been years since the words "Air France" and "insolvency" were last mentioned in the same breath. Alitalia has certainly had lots of problems, but would you care to guess the country that would have been suffering from the biggest airline collapses in history had it not been for state aid? Hint: it's not in the same continent as Italy.
Originally Posted by Andrius
Maybe things will improve when KLM is seen as their central (and hopefully standard-setting) member.
KLM's balance sheet was in the red when it was taken over by AF, so clearly it wasn't an example to the airline industry. The KL forum could also help you understand that catering on KLM has always been substandard, and that the Flying Dutchman Helpdesk doesn't really live up to its name.
Originally Posted by Andrius
As for Aeroflot joining them ST a new member, call me unimaginative, but I do to see how this fail to cause a string of jokes and uncharitable labels. On domestic Aeroflot flights, can premium tier ST members expect to be upgraded from Regular Economy to Upper Economy (the one with actual seating?)
I've never flown SU, but FTers who have tend to be positive about their flight experiences with them. It's near impossible to argue that SU isn't the best airline in Russia/W.Asia and could even offer upgrades to *A and OW elites from walking to reach their destinations within/around Russia to have them get on a plane.
When it comes to comparing the three alliances, I rank ST second behind * but ahead of OW. The latter doesn't even cover Europe adequately (big holes in various parts of Central and Eastern Europe, and the Balkans), has just one member from Northern/C. America and only one Asian hub.
My regional rankings (not too different from hfly's):
Europe: *A and ST joint first, OW
Northern and Central America: ST, *A, OW
S. America: *A, OW, ST
Africa: ST (lots of routes), *A and OW joint second (could change if/when SAA join Star without Kenyan joining ST)
Asia: *A, ST and OW joint second (will change with MH's accession)
Australia: OW, *A, ST
When you remember that a fair few OW carriers don't want FFs who buy anything less than full Y (BA's TEN cheapest booking classes earn fewer miles than a dozen packs of biscuits from Tesco), it kinda becomes clear that the only FF OW is really capable of helping is the premium class passenger travelling between London and the US with the occassional sidetrip to a major Asian capital and a little personal weekend travel to mainstream EU destinations. I wouldn't imagine that such a traveller would want much help from an airline alliance (apart from having somebody else bumped from a flight so that the FF could take their place).