Ok, other than some very, very rudimentary rumors that I have heard about the new airline alliance called WINGS - does anybody have anything substantive?

I found what might be their future web site.

http://www.wings.com/

All I know is that it may include the following airlines: "Air France, Alitalia, Singapore Airlines, Northwest Airlines, Delta Air Lines and Continental"

All that exist at the moment are rumours. Although I think your choice of airlines for WINGS is a bit off:

Singapore and SAA are joining Star.

It is almost certain Delta will pull away from Swissair.

But I can't see Delta and Continental getting into bed together.

So that leaves you with Continental, looking for a European partner (and Delta out in the cold). They have a choice of Air France, KLM/Northwest or Alitalia (none of them significant players.

And no Asian parter.

It doesn't really work, and there are no really good fits. Perhaps that is why it has been rumoured for over a year, but nothing is happening?

Now how about, Atlantic Excellence disintegrating a bit more, and leaving Continental free to join Qualiflyer?
Nick

Excellent points... Just a disclaimer: I got my information from the March Issue of our beloved InsideFlyer:

http://www.webflyer.com/@flyer/domestic/mar99/pp&r.htm

*Delta is tied with United.
*KLM and Northwest already operate as close to one airline
*NW owns the contolling stake of Continental
*CO has the option to buy a contolling stake of America West
*CO is codesharing with Air France and Alitalia
*Alitalia and KLM are closely working together
*NW and CO are or will be codesharing with AirChina
*Air France has indicated it will choose by the end of the year. (I think it will be chosen for them. It will be KLM's decision.)
*As for a potential NW/KLM/CO/Alitalia alliance, the only thing they'd be missing is intra-Asia. I don't think it would be too difficult to find an airline willing to join

Don't leave off:
-Malaysia who is working on an agreement with NW.
-Virgin who already codeshares with CO.
-Alaska or AW who both now codeshare with CO & NW and would provide coverage of the western US.

If AF could be included then the alliance would include some of the most busy hubs in Europe: Amsterdam, Paris, Rome and Milan. Not bad.

Both CO and AW are code sharing with EVA, which has extensive coverage of Asia from TPE. But political issues may cause problems for EVA and Air China (based in Beijing and China's Flag Carrier) to go together in one alliance.

Well, it looks like OneWorld and the STAR alliance seem to picking up more and more momentum. It seems like almost every week, there is annoucements of these alliances growing and/or getting closer together.

If the WINGS alliance is going to get off the ground, they better do it very fast. All the world's major airlines are linking up and leaving the WINGS alliance very few choices or alliance partners.

STAR now has: Air Canada, Air New Zealand, Ansett Australia, Lufthansa, SAS, THAI, United, VARIG, (and soon All Nippon, South African, and Singapore Airlines and more to come)

OneWorld now has: British Airways, American Airlines, Aer Lingus, Cathay Pacific, Finnair, Canadian Airlines, Qantas, Iberia (more to come)

So potential WINGS members, Continental, Northwest, Alitalia, and KLM - better get moving before it is to late!

That leaves Delta, Southwest, TWA, Virgin, American West, Aeroflot, China Air Saudi Arabian, Japan, Korean, Cayman island and KIWI airlines to form their own alliance.

What about the "ETC" alliance

Don't forget EVA airlines, China Airlines, Japapanese Airlines, and Asiana.

There's also the airlines in the Middle-East and Indian sub-continent: Air India, Indian Airlines, Pakistan International Airlines, Emirates (though probably oneworld), Kuwait, Gulf Air, El Al (though probably oneworld) and Royal Jordanian. Some of these airlines aren't all that bad.

The following from Bloomberg News Today (Sunday):

St. Paul, Minnesota, May 9 (Bloomberg) -- Northwest Airlines
Corp., Alitalia SpA and KLM Royal Dutch Airlines NV may announce
a three-way international partnership at a press conference in
New York Monday.
Northwest, the fourth-largest U.S. airline, has been closely
tied to KLM, Europe's fourth-largest carrier, since 1993. While
KLM last year joined forces with Alitalia, Europe's No. 7
airline, the three carriers haven't yet announced a three-way
pact. In such a partnership the carriers could, among other
things, sell seats on each other's flights.
The carriers will likely announce moves Monday ``taking
Alitalia to the same level of involvement that KLM has with
Northwest,'' Warburg Dillon Read analyst Michael Stellwag said.
The press conference, called by Northwest, will take place
at 10 a.m. New York time. The airline said only it would announce
an ``important advance in international air travel.'' The
airlines couldn't be reached for further comment.
Northwest executives have said that the carrier is likely to
announce a new international ``Wings'' alliance later this year
that will include KLM, Alitalia and Continental Airlines Inc.,
the fifth-largest U.S. airline. The partnership would rival the
other major global alliances, Oneworld and the Star Alliance.
Airline alliances generally allow the carriers to increase
revenue by linking their flight systems to those of their
partners without any new expenditures. In addition, joining their
frequent flier programs sometimes makes the individual carriers
more attractive to customers. Carriers also can share airport
operations costs and wield more purchasing power.

Cost Savings

KLM and Alitalia said in November that their passenger and
freight partnership would generate $445 million a year in cost
savings and additional revenue.
Similarly, executives at Northwest and Continental, the
fifth-largest U.S. airline, said recently that a new partnership
they started late last year added to revenue during the first
quarter. When they first announced the link in January 1998, they
said it would produce more than $500 million in pretax income by
the end of its third year.
Last month union leaders representing more than 15,000
pilots for Northwest, Continental, Alitalia and KLM signed an
agreement to protect their interests in a pending alliance of the
carriers.
KLM shares have risen 15 percent since the start of this
year, while Alitalia shares have declined 6.5 percent. Northwest
shares have risen 25 percent over the period.

Where does USAir fit in?

to Merry :


In your post above ,.. you seem sure that SAA is joining Star. Did you get any fact to support that ?

Last time I read something about it, a SAA spokesman was saying that they would prefer to stay on their own for now and make alliances with individual airlines ...


Cheers

MMM

I have read an article today saying that Air France will announce an expanded alliance with Delta next week. So I guess we can count them out of WINGS...

I have read an article today saying that Air France will announce an expanded alliance with Delta next week. So I guess we can count them out of WINGS...