Does anyone know dates certain for KQ, MA, SU, and CZ joining ST? Has anything specific been announced?

With these four airlines joining, ST will certainly expand its reach into the large and potential markets in Africa, China, and the former Soviet Union. When the four airlines join, I hope quality control will match the quantity of airlines that will be in ST. After all, ST should not be another *A. ST should strive to be better.

And don't forget about UX which was supposed to join this November

For those of us who a bit slower than others, can you please breakdown the airline letter codes? I'm guessing CZ is Czech Airlines but KQ, MA, SU, and UX?

CZ does sound as if it should be CSA, but no, it's China Southern.

KQ = Kenya Airways
MA = Mal�v
SU = Aeroflot
UX = Air Europa

It seems that KLM's friends are joining the party. What, then, about MAS, Jet and TAM?

It is almost the end of November, and there is no word about UX becoming part of the Team. Maybe it will happen yet, if not this month, this year.

Regarding Jet, besides their relation with KLM, JET also has relationships with NW and BA. Certainly, JET would be a fantastic addition to the Team. But AF has their relationships with AI and IC. However, LH and there *A buddies have been courting AI. And with all the challenges at AI, and IC, in the final analysis, maybe JET would be a better TEAM member.

Locking at other potential candidates, it should be remembered that TAM has relationships with AA, AF, and KLM. If I remember correctly, TAM almost did join the TEAM, but as fate will have it, the CEO of TAM died unexpectedly, and the decision to join the Team was delayed. After that, the airline industry worldwide, and more specifically the airlines in Brazil, took a nosedive, and nothing happened with the TAM membership in ST.

Even with the TAM/AA relationship, I doubt TAM would want to jump in bed with OW. With LAN trying to establish companies in many Latin American countries, TAM should be better off on the Team instead of in OW.

As for MAS, with SQ and Thai in *A, the ST hopefuls have been wishing for a MAS entry to the Team. Hey, it could happen, but SQ has maintained its relationship with Delta even after entering *A, and now SQ is doing some code sharing with AA. Maybe the SQ commitment to *A is not that strong. I would take SQ any day over MAS. SQ will probably not leave *A; maybe I am just a ST hopeful who wishes SQ would leave *A preferably for the TEAM.

For the sake of the Team, we should hope that UX, KQ, MA, SU and CZ join in the not too distant future. Of course, as I have said before, we do not want the TEAM to sacrifice quality for quantity, like our friends at *A seem to be doing.

SQ didn't codeshare with AA but has FFP ties with Delta

Actually, SQ and AA now have new codeshares. It started very recently. The information appears on the Changi Airport flight arrivals web page at www.changiairport.com.sg. It is interesting, though, it only shows the codeshares as one way.

The flights are listed as:

AA8398 New York-JFK - sin

AA8397 lax - sin

AA8399 San Francisco - sin

If you check the Changi Airport flight arrivals web page, you will note the corresponding SQ flight numbers.

Check it out and give me your thoughts. Maybe the topic is worth a separate thread.

And everyone in the U. S. have a Happy Thanksgiving.

CZ (china southern) FFP members can already collect miles on some AF flights,(see CZ website) I'm not sure that F+ members can do it on some CZ flights (AF website says nothing about)

I think TAM would be benefit more from OW or Star. If Sky snagged TAM, it would be a nice catch -- it's certainly a much better airline than most of the carriers in the alliance.

Take a look at this article: http://news.airwise.com/stories/2004/12/1102021123.html

"LAN Considering South American Expansion

Chile's largest airline LAN is looking at opportunities to invest in Brazil and Argentina, the company's biggest shareholder said on Thursday......"

".....Asked whether LAN was interested in buying a stake in Brazil's Varig, which is struggling under a massive debt load and which the Brazilian government is looking to rescue, Pinera said: "Obviously I'm not going to tell you things that we are in the middle of analyzing and researching. Now, Argentina and Brazil are two big priorities for us."....."

If Varig survives and stays a member of *A, and if LAN enters Brazil with "LAN Brazil", assumably, at some point in time, LAN Brazil would have some type of relation with OW; I would think TAM would be better off in ST. At that time, even if TAM were to consider joining *A or OW, it would be doubtful whether LAN would want TAM in OW or Varig would want TAM in *A.

If LAN bought into Varig, Varig could be OW bound leaving TAM the choice of *A or ST. If Varig was not headed to OW, even with a LAN ownership, Varig could stay a member of *A. Based solely on purchasing an interest in Varig, I doubt LAN would be *A bound; LAN would stay in OW.

Of course, Varig could liquate or be bought by TAM. Then TAM would have a choice of *A, ST, or, if LAN stays out of Brazil, OW. However, given recent events in the Brazilian aviation industry Varig will most likely survive, and this scenario probably will not happen.

Notwithstanding all of the above, the possibility exists that TAM will not join any alliance, or TAM could join some new alliance.

There are so many ifs, ands, and buts. Only time will tell us the end result of all this.

Take a look at this article: http://news.airwise.com/stories/2004/12/1102021123.html

"LAN Considering South American Expansion

Chile's largest airline LAN is looking at opportunities to invest in Brazil and Argentina, the company's biggest shareholder said on Thursday......"

".....Asked whether LAN was interested in buying a stake in Brazil's Varig, which is struggling under a massive debt load and which the Brazilian government is looking to rescue, Pinera said: "Obviously I'm not going to tell you things that we are in the middle of analyzing and researching. Now, Argentina and Brazil are two big priorities for us."....."

If Varig survives and stays a member of *A, and if LAN enters Brazil with "LAN Brazil", assumably, at some point in time, LAN Brazil would have some type of relation with OW; I would think TAM would be better off in ST. At that time, even if TAM were to consider joining *A or OW, it would be doubtful whether LAN would want TAM in OW or Varig would want TAM in *A.

If LAN bought into Varig, Varig could be OW bound leaving TAM the choice of *A or ST. If Varig was not headed to OW, even with a LAN ownership, Varig could stay a member of *A. Based solely on purchasing an interest in Varig, I doubt LAN would be *A bound; LAN would stay in OW.

Of course, Varig could liquate or be bought by TAM. Then TAM would have a choice of *A, ST, or, if LAN stays out of Brazil, OW. However, given recent events in the Brazilian aviation industry Varig will most likely survive, and this scenario probably will not happen.

Notwithstanding all of the above, the possibility exists that TAM will not join any alliance, or TAM could join some new alliance.

There are so many ifs, ands, and buts. Only time will tell us the end result of all this.

Whats bad about the quality of *A?