Oneworld alliance rises from near-death experience

The Oneworld airline alliance, led by American and British Airways, has gotten boosts from Japan and the U.S. government in the last month, ending speculation that it was doomed to fail in the face of competition from two other big airline partnerships. Japan Airlines, operating in bankruptcy, agreed to continue as a member of Oneworld rather than switching to SkyTeam, the partnership led by Delta. Then the Department of Transportation gave tentative approval to antitrust immunity to American, BA and other Oneworld members to jointly sell tickets and coordinate schedules.

Alliances remain troublesome to some airline observers and consumer advocates, who see them as reducing competition on many international routes. Others, including both airline executives and groups such as the Business Travel Coalition, say that the American-BA partnership is necessary to prevent domination of international service by Delta and other SkyTeam airlines, and those in the even-larger Star alliance, which includes US Airways, United and Continental.

A good history and current analysis of the subject was published today by the industry trade paper Travel Weekly. Find it here.