If there’s one thing that makes frequent flyers’ ears perk up, it’s when there’s chatter about an airline joining one of the major alliances. There’s aren’t a whole bunch of airlines that haven’t teamed up with one of the big three. If they’d choose a partner, that would mean the ability to get reciprocal status benefits when flying on the partner and the ability to earn or spend points on flights on that airline. If you’d like to know more about alliances and why they’re important, check out this post.
The biggest recent addition for US flyers was when Alaska Airlines joined Oneworld. When that deal was announced, I made the unpopular statement that I really didn’t care.
However, others do care and that’s why news of a possible new Oneworld partner got everyone’s attention. In an interview with Executive Traveller, Oneworld chairman, Qatar Airways CEO, and human clickbait quote generator Akbar Al Baker said “I’ve been talking to several (airlines) to become part of Oneworld.”
As the new Oneworld chairman, Al Baker wants to bring more attention to the alliance which already has some impressive partners with Cathay Pacific, Qantas, and IAG Group (British Airways, Aer Lingus and Iberia.)
The addition of Alaska was important to US domestic traffic but Oneworld has some work to do if it’s going to challenge the Star Alliance for worldwide coverage.
Undoubtedly, we’ll be hearing more about the conversations with new partners over Al Baker’s tenure as chairman. If his statements about Qatar Airways are any indication, it’s anyone’s guess about how many of those partnerships will actually happen.
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