Will Vueling join oneworld after the IAG takeover?
 

Barcelona-based low-cost carrier Vueling has unanimously recommended that shareholders accept an improved takeover offer of €9.25 ($12.10) per share from International Airlines Group (IAG).

IAG, which already owns 45.85% of Vueling as well as British Airways and Iberia, last month raised its bid by almost one-third after a previous offer of €7 per share was rejected.

“The board of Vueling recommends shareholders accept the improved offer for the following reasons: the price is reasonable and within the valuation issued by experts and from a strategic point of view the deeper integration of Vueling in IAG will offer advantages and opportunities,” Vueling said in a notice sent to stock exchange regulator CNMV.

IAG CEO Willie Walsh was quoted by Reuters as saying IAG would not merge Vueling with Iberia if its takeover bid was successful. He said the profitable Vueling business would operate separately from loss-making Iberia after the takeover.

IAG, which is trying to lay off more than 3,000 workers and cut salaries at Iberia to return the unit to profitability, could use Vueling to boost its short-haul business and compete with cheaper operators, according to Reuters.

Who knows.
But if Vuelig retains its LCC ethos,

I suspect like Jetstar (in its five incarnations) it may remain outside.

Unless of course IAG just tries to use Vuelig for its wage issues, but I thought this was the rationale for Iberia Express.

The problem I have is IB express flights count for OW credit on AA, but not VY. IB does sell higher fare tickets on VY that earn miles in IAG programs (also have a free checked bag), so I don't see why the fares would not be considered strong enough for programs like AA to be able to award miles.

The issue is it is hard to avoid VY flights as many routes that might used to be IB are now only available via VY.

Rasheed