Originally Posted by
Buster CT1K
There is just too much overlap for me to see this alliance as anything more than a desperation maneuver.
Perhaps losing NW's easy access to Asia ex-NRT will spur CO to aggressively expand out there (what are those 787s for, anyhow?). Also, HKG/CX would appear to be preferable connection options to NW/KE (NRT/ICN).
If QF becomes a partner through OneWorld, does that make CO more likely to take a stab at IAH-SYD with the 789s, once they come online? All sorts of intriguing possibilities.
Agreed that beyond a few oddball routes to S. America, this alliance doesn't bring much to the table that CO didn't already have access to through SkyTeam. CO stands to gain quite a few new AA customers on TATL routes, as those AA customers can't earn miles on BA's TATL services (and presumably would be able to do so with CO). Why bother with BA, LHR, and no miles, when CO could get you to many secondary European cities with only a domestic connection at EWR necessary? That could be quite a huge revenue stream for CO (assuming BA doesn't see such an arrangement as a potential threat and renegotiate its agreement with AA).
Not my preferred alliance arrangement, to be sure, but it does look shinier than SkyTeam, with all sorts of new minute details to learn about the alliance I know least about. My guess is that CO had a thorough look at the train-wreck that is UA, and decided "no way, no how." If one of the top airline management teams in the U.S. can't figure out how to cure that mess, I say let Dougie run UA/US into the ground...CO can always scoop up the desirable pieces at the liquidation fire-sale.
If or when that occurs, CO gets all the benefits of acquiring UA (routes, planes), with none of the mess (problematic labor issues, debt). It's all highly speculative, but this is a merger/alliance speculation thread
