What will happen to the "One World" name ?
 

What will happen to the actual "One World" name in the wake of a BA/AA split, if it does occur?

Neither BA nor AA own it, do they?

An eventual negotiated settlement, I guess, since it is clearly worth "something" as evidenced by the difficulties SKYTEAM encountered in coming up with a suitable name!

BA has a partnership with AA and other carriers under the Oneworld alliance, but it has accepted that a KLM deal would force a rethink of its international relationships, the FT said. BA had not yet opened discussions with American on the abandonment of Oneworld, the FT quoted a senior BA official as saying, but the British carrier expects a KLM deal to force either themselves or AA out of the eight-airline alliance.
http://biz.yahoo.com/rf/000910/l11209319_2.html
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/Forum35/HTML/000770.html

I am prepared to bet that the real loser after a BA/KL deal will be NW.

BA are clearly the stronger force in OW--they have the equity stakes in two carriers, QF and IB, and Eddington is the former MD at CX.

But I think BA would be loathe to turf AA. The alliance must have a strong US anchor, particularly without a canadian carrier. KL brings NW to the table--but who is the better anchor, AA or NW? Clearly AA.

The price for AA's continued participation might well be KL's divestiture of NW. In the global scheme of things, DFW, ORD and JFK are probably more valuable than NRT, DTW and MSP.

You may be right! http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif

BA, which together with AA is part of the eight-airline alliance OneWorld, is understood to be trying to examine ways to keep as much of its current alliance structure intact even if it does reach a deal with KLM.
http://biz.yahoo.com/rf/000911/l11181650_3.html
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Not an easy task! http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

And AA has assured Oneworld "fans" that they need not worry, since the alliance will survive! http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/biggrin.gif

Seems the name and alliance are safe - so far! http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif
http://press.britishairways.com
http://www2.marketwatch.com/pulse/yh...6667-580735718

A spokesman for AA said its relationship with BA "is a longstanding part of American's international strategy" and that the carrier "remains committed to the British Airways partnership and the Oneworld alliance, in which both carriers are founding members."
http://public.wsj.com/news/personalE...821432026.html

Now maybe the oneworld partners can focus on making their alliance more visible to the public in the way STAR has done. While the various promos have been nice for us in getting lots of bonuses, the public profile of the alliance has been overshadowed by BA's slutty behavior, trying to get into bed with everyone except the ones she went to the alter with.

And while the promos have been good for our FF accounts, they have only served to focus on the shortcomings of the oneworld alliance: lack of standardized mileage accumulation fares, inablility of some res systems to handle FF numbers, posting delays, variable standards of service among members, etc.

Maybe BA is having second thoughts, since oneworld definitely is taking on the image of the "bargain basement" alliance, offering all sorts of incentives and "discounts" to get customers. Not quite the upper class image BA wishes to have given its musings about scaling down the back cabin and focusing on high yield business travellers. STAR is certainly the more refined alliance, not pandering to mileage junkies with 100K promos every six months, or offering mileage insensitive R-t-W fares onwhich one can chaulk up itinerary miles like crazy.

This is not a condemnation of oneworld, just a reflection on some of the anomalies that have arisen as the two major alliances approach their second anniversaries.

I agree with Shareholder that the alliance-hopping behaviour reflects very poorly on those airlines which keep trying to swap their partners. Shame on BA.

FewMiles..

Hang on there guys... BA had discussions with KLM - they NEVER said they had discussions with NorthWest, that was speculation on this board and in the press.

BA NEVER said they were considering leaving OneWorld, again that was specualtion on this board and in the press.

Throughout BA's negotiations with KLM, they streesed the importantance of their ONGOING relationship with AA. Some people on this board and in the press, decided to ignore that.

BA had negotiations with KLM about merging their operations - nothing more, nothing less.

I agree that OneWorld has a very long way to go to catch up with Star, but it was people on this board who did the "BYE BYE ONEWORLD" posts. This was specualtion, and it was wrong.


I didn't see many "BYE BYE ONEWORLD" posts when AA recently expanded their code-share operations with SwissAir!


Nick

BA is reportedly now attempting to link up with SwissAir!
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/Forum40/HTML/000179.html
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/Forum15/HTML/000552.html

BTW, Nick- FWIW, following the breakdown of the merger negotiations the WSJ published this quote: "We're disappointed," said BA vice president for investments and joint ventures, Roger Maynard, who handled the negotiations. "We put a lot of effort into this."

There must have been some truth to the rumour! http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif

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Personally I've felt the main problem in consummating these planned mergers have been twofold- 1) ego and postmerger control, and 2) unrealistic price expectations (as NWA has demonstrated). Time will tell! http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif


[This message has been edited by doc (edited 09-25-2000).]

Qantas's Oneworld Alliance is in danger of breaking up after its biggest partner, American Airlines, said it intended to quit the group.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/0010/14/b...business9.html

Cathay Pacific, has long been a bitter rival of Qantas and the fragmentation of the alliance might result in the Hong Kong-based airline also looking further afield.

While the oneworld Alliance may be breaking up, its arch-rival, the bigger Star Alliance, is moving from strength to strength, the newspaper said.

There are 13 airlines in Star, including Ansett, Air New Zealand and Singapore Airlines. The group has a turnover of $119 billion.
http://news.airwise.com/cgi-bin/stor...971611113.html

Rumours persist that CX as well as Qantas and AA are NOT committed to the One World alliance! http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/eek.gif

If CX, QF and AA aren't committed to OW, then just who IS committed to it?