Which new partner would you like?
 

Inspired by thoughtless threads on the other alliance forums (I think that Sabena would be great because they have great because they have African coverage!!! Like those 17 flights a week make them so much money and have nothing to do with why Sabena is a black hole in the first place).

What airlines (realistically) do you think could be/should be in Skyteam (Most of us have a good concept of who is available and who is not)?

Well, I'd love to see Air New Zealand if they get mad enough at Singapore because of the Ansett deal to quit * Alliance, but I don't expect it.

Also, it's a real shame Delta pissed off Aer Lingus by being greedy a few years ago... Dublin would make a really good European mini-hub for Britain. (I hate Heathrow -- what I really like about Bermuda Two is that Delta is consigned to Gatwick -- snicker, snicker -- which I think is better.)

Third on my wish-list: Swissair.

Okay, I know you said "a good concept of who is available..." Sorry.

As to who is available: I'd just as soon NOT see Aeroflot or Air India, but wouldn't really care a lot either way; these aren't markets I'm likely to fly to. Thai might be okay if they decide to decamp *. IMO.

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"Service" should be a noun, not a verb.
Delta Flyers' Guide

Swissair, Singapore, Finnair, Air NZ, ANA ... oh wait, those were Delta partners about 3 years ago.

Well, DL still wants to get slots in LHR. That's why they campaign against the AA/BA antitrust immunity as it would secure LHR to OW.

OK - a nice new partner might be some Asian partner like TG. TG does have flights in/out of MUC (now on a 747)...

As an Australian I would suggest Virgin Blue. It's not in any alliance, it doesn't overlap any skyteam routes (but would connect to Korean flights in SYD).

I'd also like JAL to join ANY alliance. I have flow JAL many times in the past and really like there service (and price) but can no longer justify flying them as Mileagebank miles are next to useless.

An ideal partner for Skyteam would be Thai Airways. Thai serves a large number of destinations in Asia and holiday destinations are its main business. For Europe and US alike, it would shift Thailand holiday business and Asia travel in general to Air France and Delta. Both airlines carry a small amount of holiday business at the moment. While Thai offers already many Europe flights, it only has one US flight to LAX. Korean is not an ideal solution for SE Asia, but complements the Asia coverage in the NE corner.
Thai also flies to A&NZ frequently.
For Thai itself, Skyteam would solve the competition issue with Singapore Airlines.

I'd like to see JAL for more Asian coverage. KE has limited flights, and NO code share with DL due to safety issues.

How can they seriously claim to be an alliance when one partner refuses to code sahre on another because of safety concerns!!!

Stephen

Delta is very weak at best in Asia. They need a first class partner but there are currently few if any options. They have ruined past opportunities.

As far as others areas BA if they can not resole the issues with AA to codeshare across the Atlantic. This was rumored a few months ago. VA is great and they used to code share. It was a partial solution as DL did not Codeshare to Heathrow.