Oneworld

oneworld is a worldwide airline alliance. As of 2005 it is the third largest after Star Alliance and SkyTeam. Member airlines and their affiliates enjoy a high degree of co-operation in scheduling, ticketing, code sharing, flight transfer operations, frequent flyer benefits, shared airport lounges, reducing costs and sharing 'best practice'.

Oneworld was the first airline alliance to establish a central management. Based in Vancouver, Canada, it has a Managing Director, reporting to the alliance board, which is made up of the Chief Executives of each of the member airlines. Chairman of the board is held on a rotating basis. Reporting to the Managing Partner are function heads for Commercial, IT, Public Relations, Airports and Customer Service, and a Global Project Director.

Member airlines also develop common specifications as widely as possible across their engineering and maintenance activities, aligning their policies and procedures and work together to develop and support solutions that can be applied throughout the airline industry. Costs are also reduced through bulk buying and by sharing parts between one another.

The alliance reaches over 600 destinations in 135 countries around the world, operating over 8000 daily flights. In 2004 Oneworld carried over 230 million passengers on a combined fleet of some 2000 aircraft. It is the only airline alliance whose members earned a combined profit in the past year - US$1.5 billion net, against combined losses by Star carriers totalling more than US$2.2 billion and an overall deficit by SkyTeam's members in excess of US$7 billion.

Its existing members currently serve 135 countries and 609 destinations. With Japan Airlines, Royal Jordanian and Malév joining in the future, the Oneworld map would extend to 686 destinations in 140 countries and territories.

Oneworld was voted the world's best airline alliance in the 2004 Business Traveller Awards and named the World's Leading Airline Alliance for the second year running at the 2004 World Travel Awards.

Membership history

*1998 - Oneworld is launched in September when American Airlines, British Airways, Canadian Airlines, Cathay Pacific and Qantas announce their intention to form an alliance.
*1999 - In February, Oneworld becomes operational, and member airlines begin offering the alliance benefits. Iberia and Finnair join later this year.
*2000 - Aer Lingus and LanChile (now known as LAN Airlines) join the alliance. However, founding member Canadian Airlines is acquired by Air Canada after a period of financial difficulty; Air Canada being a member of rival Star Alliance.
*2003-2005 - Swiss International Air Lines accepts an invitation to join in September, at the same time signing a memorandum of understanding with British Airways, agreeing to a strategic alliance with the British carrier including extensive code sharing, slot exchange agreements at London Heathrow and merging the Swiss frequent flyer programme with the British Airways Executive Club. However, in June 2004, Swiss terminates the agreement, citing the significant costs and drawbacks of the integration would outweigh the long term benefits. As a result of the termination of the BA alliance, Swiss decides not to proceed with its application to join Oneworld. (In March 2005, Lufthansa announced the take-over of Swiss, paving the way for its membership in the Star Alliance).
For a time during 2003, British Airways and KLM Royal Dutch Airlines begin discussions on a possible merger, which would significantly increase the size of Oneworld, bringing KLM's strategic partner Northwest Airlines into the enlarged alliance. However, the talks are fruitless and KLM merges with Air France the following year, creating the world's largest airline in Air France-KLM and significantly boosting Skyteam, making it the second largest alliance after Star Alliance.
*2005 - On May 24, Oneworld Alliance signs a memorandum of understanding with Hungary's Malév Hungarian Airlines as the first step towards joining the alliance. Also, on 17 October, Royal Jordanian accepted to join Oneworld Alliance. It will be the 10th Oneworld member and the first airline from the Middle East in a worldwide alliance when joining the alliance in 2006/2007. On 25 October 2005, Japan Airlines (JAL) admitted that the airline is seeking a membership in the Oneworld alliance. JAL would expand Oneworld's existing network by around 10 per cent, adding 68 destinations - 56 of them in Japan and five in China. It would add one territory—Guam. On 22 November 2005, Malév accepted a formal invitation to join the alliance, following its satisfactory completion of Oneworld safety and quality audits. The invitation is subject to Malév completing codeshare agreements with other alliance partners and continuing to progress towards a return to profitability. It is expected that Malév will be offering full alliance benefits by late 2006 or early 2007. [1]
*2006 - Japan Airlines completes first step towards Oneworld membership and signs a memorandum of understanding with Oneworld Alliance. JAL will join the alliance after reaching the remaining agreements. It's expected that JAL will become a member in 2007.
All Oneworld airlines serving Madrid move into the new Terminal 4 on 5 February. The airport is the home base for member Iberia. At New York JFK, Malév moved to Terminal 8 to join American Airlines and Finnair.
On May 30, Aer Lingus confirms its intention to leave the alliance as it repositions itself as a low-fares carrier, but will retain bilateral links with a number of the grouping's member airlines. The timing and terms for its withdrawal will be considered at the next meeting of the alliance's Governing Board, but it is likely to be in early 2007.
*2008 - All Oneworld airlines (except British Airways) serving Heathrow will move into Terminal 3 in March. British Airways will have exclusive use of the new Terminal 5. Details

Members

Current (including regional subsidaries)

Line-up of Oneworld member airlines' tailfins.

* Aer Lingus Î"
* American Airlines +
** American Eagle
*** Executive Air
** AmericanConnection
*** Chautauqua Airlines
*** RegionsAir
*** Trans States Airlines
* British Airways +
** BA Connect
** British Mediterranean Airways
** Comair
** GB Airways
** Loganair
** Sun Air
* Cathay Pacific +
* Finnair
* Iberia
** Air Nostrum
* LAN
** LANExpress
** LAN Peru
* Qantas +
** QantasLink
** JetConnect

Note+: The founding members of the Oneworld Alliance.

NoteÎ": Aer Lingus plans to leave Oneworld Alliance in 2007.

Note*: LAN affiliates LAN Argentina, LAN Dominicana, and LAN Ecuador are not members of Oneworld.

Former

* Canadian Airlines+ - Taken over by Star Alliance member Air Canada in 2000.

Note+: A founding member of the Oneworld Alliance.

Future

Royal Jordanian to join Oneworld

* Japan Airlines - the airline received a formal invitation to join Oneworld on June 4, 2006. The airline will officially join the alliance in early 2007.([2])
* Malév - the airline accepted an invitation to join the alliance on 22 November 2005, expected to be a full-fledged member in early 2007.
* Royal Jordanian - the airline has accepted an invitation to join the alliance, expected to be a full-fledged member in early 2007.

Potential future members

Although the alliance is now currently growing by recruiting new members after limiting to eight carriers for several years, Oneworld prepares to accept two more members only in order to prevent the alliance from becoming unwieldy. [3]
* Dragonair - Since Cathay Pacific has bought out Dragonair for HK$8.22 billion it will become a wholly owned subsidiary of Cathay Pacific, it is possible that the airline will join Oneworld in the future as an affiliate. [4]
* Air Sahara - Air Sahara has recently concluded codeshare agreements with Oneworld member American Airlines and has signed a memorandum of understanding with another major Oneworld partner, British Airways. The airline is also a partner in the Qantas frequent flyer program. Ronojoy Dutta, the President of Air Sahara has also hinted at the airline's membership of the alliance. He has also flagged the airline's intent to hold discussions with Oneworld member Cathay Pacific about cooperation in Southeast Asia. Despite this, any Air Sahara bid has been made significantly weaker by the failure of its merger deal with the much larger Jet Airways. [5] [6]
* SN Brussels Airlines - also shares a close working relationship with several Oneworld members, including a strategic alliance with British Airways, who handle check-in and ground support for SN aircraft in the United Kingdom, as well as shared lounges and frequent flyer programmes. SN Brussels also code share with American Airlines, Iberia and Finnair. As some of the agreements of Oneworld membership are already in place, SN Brussels is in an advantageous position to join the alliance if so desired.
* TAM - recently terminated its agreement with Skyteam's Air France and strengthened its relationship with American Airlines. Due to the bankruptcy and possible liquidation of Varig, TAM has become the largest airline in Brazil, and with no major South American carrier with the exception of Aerolineas Argentinas, LAN and TACA, the airline stands to inherit the number one spot for travel in the largest and most populous nation on the continent. Varig's disappearance would also mean an end to the Star Alliance's only Latin American member airline.[7]
* WestJet - a Canadian discount carrier, has co-operation agreements with Japan Airlines and is thought to be in discussion with Cathay Pacific for a possible strategic alliance. Because of WestJet's relationships with Oneworld members, it has been speculated that WestJet may join the alliance. [8]

Premium status

Oneworld has three premium levels - Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald - based on a customer's tier status in a member carrier's frequent flyer program. Each of the member airlines recognizes the elite statuses, with a few exceptions. The statuses have no specific requirements of their own; membership is based solely on the frequent flyer programs of individual member airlines.

Oneworld Ruby

Oneworld Ruby status is awarded to customers who have reached the premium level of a member carrier's frequent flyer program.

Benefits of Oneworld Ruby membership:
*Priority Reservations Waitlisting
*Priority Airport Standby
*Priority Airport Check In (Business Class)
*Preferred Seating

Membership tiers granting Oneworld Ruby:
*Aer Lingus (TAB) - Gold Circle Club
*American Airlines (AAdvantage) - Gold
*British Airways (Executive Club) - N/A
*Cathay Pacific (Marco Polo Club) - Silver
*Finnair (Finnair Plus) - Silver
*Iberia (Iberia Plus) - Silver
*LAN (LanPass) - Premium
*Qantas (Frequent Flyer) - Silver

Oneworld Sapphire

Oneworld Sapphire status is awarded to customers who have reached the higher premium level of a member carrier's frequent flyer program.

Benefits of Oneworld Sapphire membership:
*Priority Reservations Waitlisting
*Priority Airport Standby
*Priority Airport Check In (Business Class)
*Preferred Seating
*Priority Boarding
*Airport Lounge Access (Business Class)

Membership tiers granting Oneworld Sapphire:
*Aer Lingus (TAB) - Gold Circle Prestige
*American Airlines (AAdvantage) - Platinum
*British Airways (Executive Club) - Silver
*Cathay Pacific (Marco Polo Club) - Gold
*Finnair (Finnair Plus) - Gold
*Iberia (Iberia Plus) - Gold
*LAN (LanPass) - Silver
*Qantas (Frequent Flyer) - Gold

Oneworld Emerald

Oneworld Emerald status is awarded to customers who have reached the highest premium level of a member carrier's frequent flyer program.

Benefits of Oneworld Emerald membership:
*Priority Reservations Waitlisting
*Priority Airport Standby
*Priority Airport Check In (Business/First Class)
*Preferred Seating
*Priority Boarding
*Airport Lounge Access (Business/First Class)

Membership tiers granting Oneworld Emerald:
*Aer Lingus (TAB) - Gold Circle Elite
*American Airlines (AAdvantage) - Executive Platinum
*British Airways (Executive Club) - Gold & Premier
*Cathay Pacific (Marco Polo Club) - Diamond & Invitation
*Finnair (Finnair Plus) - Platinum
*Iberia (Iberia Plus) - Platinum
*LAN (LanPass) - Comodoro
*Qantas (Frequent Flyer) - Platinum

Destinations

See also

*SkyTeam
*Star Alliance
*AACO

External links

* Official site - official site providing benefits, travel planning, news and information.