Oneworld and India
 

So this may be wishful thinking - but let's face - Kingfisher looks like its gone beyond recovery and at best it will be a small domestic boutique airline flying a few routes if it does bounce back and that's a big IF...

So - I am putting a thought / wish / hope out there....

Jet Airways should join oneworld. 9W has always been the more professional quality experience which IMHO is a better match for OW with the likes of CX/BA/AA/QF each IMHO being the best in their region.

I know internally the reason 9W is hesitant to join OW is their view that LHR isn't a hub that can be grown much further given costs and availability of slots and *A allows them the option of growing BRU/FRA/MUC/ZRH/GVA etc. But OW also provides the options of HEL/BCN/MAD.
I understand that OW was the last on Goyal's list of option and he would go with Skyteam before OW - with the option of MXP/CDG/AMS as hubs to grow (in fact if *a doesn't go through they may even consider shifting all BRU ops to AMS).

However, I believe they are taking too much of a route based simplistic view on joining an alliance and there are other factors to consider - such as quality of the company you are associating with. IMHO Sky team is at the bottom of the list and *A wins on scale / size while *O wins on quality.

This is going to be an interesting year in which any of the following could happen

1) NO INDIAN AIRLINE JOINS ANY ALLIANCE
2) AI - either Star or Skyteam
3) 9W - Star / Skyteam / Oneworld
4) IT - Bounces back and joins OW or fades away...

Any thoughts?

Any particular reason why you think that AI wouldn't want to join OW? The reason ST was cited as the major backup option for them when *A susupended was because IT was on track to join OW at the time... If IT goes under, I don't think that AI joining OW would be a particularly unlikely scenario... No less so than 9W joining anyway.

I don't see any OW member airline rushing in to sponsor AI's membership into OW. To me, OW has always seemed like the most selective alliance amongst the three and they'd likely approach 9W before they approach AI. And rightly so, IMO.

Once again, I'd disagree for reasons mentioned above. OW wouldn't want to risk diluting its image by going after a *A reject.

My vote is for the above.

I will be (pleasantly) surprised if any Indian airline actually joins an alliance this year.

While I think that BA would absolutely adore the idea of A380 slots in India, your reasoning does make quite a bit of sense...

Quite honestly, I expect ST and OW to fight over 9W while *A quietly takes AI and tries to make the best of what it has...

If Keyser's plan fails and IT ceases operations, I could see 9W joining OW rather soon. Let's face it, 9W is just not going to join *A. AI will never get in and will never let any other Indianairline get in. And no one really wants to join ST.

I disagree. AI will get in when *A realizes that they have no other option...

They decided to play hardball, and they're paying for it now...

Fine. Assuming AI makes it into *A, they will try to prevent another Indian airline from joining them. AI knows that if both it and 9W join *A, people will just fly 9W and not AI. This leaves OW as the next best option for 9W. Given this, I think that 9W might as well try to join OW now itself (assuming IT doesn't survive).

Quite right. But even without my AI-colored glasses on, I would be strongly opposed to AI and 9W being part of the same alliance. That would basically give *A a monopoly on the Indian market. And that would be a terrible, terrible thing.

Exactly - and a monopoly that would play right into the hands of the middle eastern carriers who have the scale to survive alliance free.
You'll have *A and then EK pretty much dominating Indian skies with OW and Skyteam being relegated to the sidelines which in the long run isn't good for us - the consumer.
Having a serious presence in both OW and *A from India is better for us - the consumer... so I hope it happens.

BTW - My TA informed me that they can no longer book or issue IT using their amadeus / IATA BSP set up and no interline documents will be accepted. IT is now asking them for a bank guarantee / deposit to issue tickets through their website and given the low demand for IT flights, they have taken a decision not to issue IT and told me any IT travel to buy directly and at my own risk.

Dude, seriously, does your love for dosa serving AI make you think it is a quality airline that has remote chance of getting into an alliance like 1W?

Well, after reading SQ421's reasoning, I'd be inclined to think that the likelyhood of AI joining OW is rather low...

However, I do think that AI is higher quality than the likes of AA, IB, QF, and S7, which are all proud members of the oneworld alliance.

There are better places to have dosas. Have you tried the bene dosa in BLR?

Have you tried my grandmother's dosa in IXE? No restaurant/airline can beat that...

It's not the dosas which bring me to AI.. It's the fact that the whole experience is better than the competition...

I think that AI has a superior onboard experience compared to the airlines you listed. But it seriously lags them in many other ways such as the competence/reliability of ground staff, call center agents and the website. I know you feel that the website does the job, but I think it's horrible. It has the features and functionalities of the 1990s. Not 2000s and definitely not 2010s.