Aerolineas Argentinas and oneworld
 

Was Aerolineas Argentinas a member of oneworld?
If so, what happened?

I remember them once being a member. They might have even been a founding member. I am trying to remember, but I just cannot recall whether or not they were actually a member or were going to join. Maybe someone can assist me with this.

Google search...
 

Aerolineas Argentinas belonging to Oneworld prior to going "bankrupt" did ring a bell......

After having a look at the archives on the Oneworld Alliance site I did a google serach and found this (From:
http://usca.es/atcmag/27/mercado.htm)

OneWorld se creó en 1998 y fue apadrinada por British Airways (BA), American Airlines, Quantas, Cathay Pacific y Canadian Airlines. En septiembre de 1999 se unieron a ella Iberia y Finnair, y en junio de 2000 lo hicieron Aer Lingus y Lan Chile.

El tándem British Airways-American Airlines es tan fuerte, que el tribunal de la competencia no les permitió unificar sus vuelos transatlánticos con origen en Inglaterra, ya que entre los dos hubieran sumado más del cincuenta por ciento de las frecuencias.

Uno de los socios fundadores, Canadian Airlines, abandonó el grupo el año pasado al ser absorbida por Air Canada, que forma parte de otra alianza competidora: StarAlliance.

OneWorld cuenta además con la compañía Aerolíneas Argentinas como empresa asociada, aunque por el momento no es socia de pleno derecho, debido fundamentalmente a sus dificultades económicas y a la incertidumbre de su viabilidad. Sin embargo, su papel de gran transportista en Latinoamérica con conexiones a Europa, Norteamérica y el Pacífico, la convierten en parte importante de OneWorld.

Last paragraph roughly translates as : Aerolineas is an associated company, not yet with full rights, due to it's financial difficulties and the uncertainty of it's viability. However, it's role as a great carrier in Latin America with connections to Europe, North America and the Pacific, makes it an important part of OneWorld.

Note: I forgot to mention that this text appears to have been written in 2001 as the third paragraph mentions "Canadian Airlines abandoned Oneworld the previous year" (i.e. 2000)

There was a partnership with American Airlines for earning and redemption purposes. OneWorld member? I don't remember coming across any marketing material showing that Aerolineas Argentina was a full member of OneWorld -- at least not since 1998.

Edit: Which year was OneWorld established?

This might have been related to Iberia's ownership in Aerolineas. According to Argentinians Iberia almost ruined Aerolineas and left them in a bad condition. Many of the aircrafts AR had acquired were transfered to IB, whereas AR got the old fleet from IB.

No, Aerolineas was never a member. There was talk and speculation because they were partnered with AA but realistically Oneworld's formation and expansion were during the Argentinian crisis and the talk wasn't taken all that seriously. In fact, Aerolineas shut down ops for a bit during that period. I want to say in 2001 but I can't remember for sure.

This is from memory so things might be slightly off but close enough for government work. Oneworld was formed in 1999 (hence the current 15k promo) by American, British, Cathay, Qantas, and Canadian Pacific. Not long after, Iberia and Finnair joined and the following year Lan Chile and Aer Lingus joined (when I started flying the alliance). I believe that Lan is technically the newest member. Sometime in 2000, Canadian Pacific was unfortunately bought by Air Canada and went away. In 2003, Swiss gets provisional membership but ends up being dropped supposedly due to BA's demands regarding the Swiss Travel Club.

From oneworldalliance.com
 

From the news archives....(March 2000)

Canadian to withdraw from oneworld on June 1

March 14, 2000

The oneworld™ airline alliance governing board has confirmed that Canadian Airlines International will no longer participate in the alliance or offer customer benefits as of June 1, 2000.

Canadian Airlines was a founding member of oneworld, along with American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific Airways and Qantas. Canadian announced late last year that it would withdraw from oneworld after it was purchased by Air Canada.

Since oneworld's launch in February 1999, Finnair and Iberia have joined. LanChile and Aer Lingus will also begin offering oneworld customer services and benefits in mid-2000.

**No mention of Aerolineas Argentinas.....by the way, I found it interesting reading some of the archived news.

Darren's version is the most accurate
 

Indeed, it was AA, BA, CP, CX and QF who founded OW. Canadian (not Canadian Pacific which was what it was formerly named) was reportedly a tagalong with AA.

AR was definitely not part of the group.

they are back on their feet and busy building alliances with *A members

AA also had a small equity stake in AR.