SkyTeam Exit Date
 

Conference Call: Last flight on October 24, 2009 is last flight in Sky......

Interesting.

what an odd date

Just looked it up, that looks to be 1 year to the day from when Delta and NOrthwest was approved and finalized.....

Wonder when the first day of *A is. I doubt it's the next day; there are no doubt many system changes that may dwarf the recent fare class changeover. Unlike that change, which could be done in advance even though it was obviously preparation for *A, things like StarNet connectivity (for awards and FLINFO) probably can't be turned on in production in advance.

Also likely lots of legalities. My guess is we won't see CO as an actual *A member until 3-12 months after leaving ST. But we'll see codeshares, especially with UA/AC/LH, and perhaps some bilateral RDM/EQM deals, ahead of the full *A accession.

I'd like to be surprised and have them in *A a couple of days after leaving ST. But I doubt that's realistic. As long as my 2009 CO flying gets me *A status for sometime in 2010 with some benefits on UA/AC/LH earlier, I'll be happy.

doobierw, thank you. That information is very helpful for the NW folks.

From the earnings report:

"Announced plans to leave SkyTeam and join Star Alliance and begin broad code-sharing and other commercial cooperation with United in the fourth quarter of 2009."

LK specifically mentioned the 10/24 exit date, but then never answered anything regarding planned entry date.

I would bet it is to coincide with the November 1 launch of IAH-FRA. I am willing to bet that Star entry will be around November 1.

During the media portion, LK was queried about the specific exit date he provided, and was then asked if he was willing to provide an entry date. He dodged providing a specific date, but his reply with reference to October 24th was 'promptly thereafter'.......

What does the last Skyteam flight mean? Presumably, if you booked on a Skyteam partner before some date (when?) you would still get EQM for that flight even after October 24. Similarly, reward tickets on Skyteam partners booked before some date (when?) would still be honored after October 24. Also, the Northwest partnership with respect to upgrades is not part of the Skyteam agreement. I wonder when those reciprocal upgrades will end? Any ideas on any of these dates?

Yes to having a reward ticket honored. Likely no to upgrades on NW or getting OnePass credit beyond that date, even if already ticketed today.

October 24th is actually the last day of the IATA summer season.
October 25th begins the winter season, so that is probably why they chose that date.

Houston Chronicle Article
 

From this NW Elite, CO will be missed, and I just may follow CO out when it leaves!

Safe Travels.

this is somewhat good as it leaves us with AF and OK for this Summer. So PRG is still a Go. and as bad as AZ is it still gives us a chance to cash in for Italy, or at least to make Italy a stopover in conjunction with other Countries.

I assume the last SkyTeam flight means that after that CO will no longer participate in the alliance. This includes IT sharing, IRROP support, award redemption, etc.