Star Alliance
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Star Alliance Star Alliance is the world's largest global airline alliance.[2] Star Alliance Founded on 14 May 1997, its current CEO is Jeffrey Goh[4] and its headquarters is located in Frankfurt am Main, Germany.[3] As of April 2018, Star Alliance is the largest of the three global alliances by passenger count with 762.27 million, ahead of both SkyTeam (630 million) and Oneworld (528 million).[5][6] Its Launch date 14 May 1997 slogan is "The Way the Earth Connects". Full members 26 Star Alliance's 26 member airlines operate a fleet of approximately Non-voting members 40 affiliates 5,033 aircraft, serving more than 1,290 airports in 195 countries Pending members 0 on more than 19,000 daily departures. The alliance has a two-tier Destination airports 1,294[1] rewards program, Silver and Gold, with incentives including [2] priority boarding and upgrades. Like other airline alliances, Star Destination countries 195 Alliance airlines share airport terminals (known as co-location) Annual passengers (M) 762[2] and many member planes are painted in the alliance's livery. Annual RPK (G) 1,739[1] Fleet size 5,033[1] Contents Headquarters Frankfurt am Main, Germany[3] Management Jeffrey Goh, CEO[4] History Calin Rovinescu, Chairman 1997–1999: First alliance Alliance slogan The Way the Earth Connects. Additions 2000–2006: Expansion Website www.staralliance.com (http://w 2007: First decade ww.staralliance.com) 2008–2010: Second decade of operations 2011–present: further expansion and stability Member airlines and affiliates Members and affiliates Connecting Partners Former members Former affiliates of current members Customer service Premiums Star Alliance Silver Star Alliance Gold Qualifying tiers by airline Livery and logo Controversies Ethnic profiling by partner airline References External links History 1997–1999: First alliance On 14 May 1997, an agreement was announced forming Star Alliance from five airlines on three continents: United Airlines, Scandinavian Airlines, Thai Airways, Air Canada, and Lufthansa.[7][8] The alliance chose Young & Rubicam for advertising, with a budget of $25 million (€18 million).[9] The airlines shared the star logo from the beginning, with its five points representing the founding airlines. The alliance adopted its first slogan, "The Airline Network for Earth",[7] with its goal "an alliance that will take passengers to every major city on earth".[8] "The Star Alliance is Born" – airliners Additions of the five founding members of the alliance gathered together, May [7][10] The now defunct Brazilian airline VARIG joined the Star Alliance network on 22 1997. October 1997, extending the alliance into South America. Also joining were Ansett Australia and Air New Zealand, expanding Star Alliance to Australia and the Pacific.[11] With the addition of the latter two carriers, the alliance served 720 destinations in 110 countries with a combined fleet of 1,650 aircraft. The next airline to join was All Nippon Airways (ANA), the group's second Asian airline, on 15 October 1999.[12][13] 2000–2006: Expansion During the early 2000s, a number of airlines joined Star Alliance; the Austrian Airlines Group (Austrian Airlines, Tyrolean Airways and Lauda Air) joined on 26 March Four United Airlines planes at San 2000[14][15] and Singapore Airlines on 1 April.[16] BMI (British Midland) and Francisco International Airport. One Mexicana joined on 1 July, bringing the alliance's membership to 13.[17] With Singapore is painted the Star Alliance special livery. Airlines' entry into the alliance, Thai Airways considered moving to One World, but eventually decided to remain.[18] The addition of BMI made London Heathrow the only European hub with two alliances. During the year, Emirates considered joining Star Alliance, but decided against it.[19] That year the now-defunct BWIA West Indies Airways, which had entered an alliance with United Airlines, considered becoming a member but did not.[20] In 2000, the alliance also opened its first three business centers (in Los Angeles, Frankfurt, and Bangkok) and announced the formation of an Alliance Management Team (AMT), the partnership's executive body.[21] In September 2001, Ansett Australia (the alliance's only Australian member) left Star Alliance due to bankruptcy, giving most of the Australian market to Qantas (a Oneworld member). That year, Star Alliance announced the appointment of a new CEO, Jaan Albrecht.[21] Asiana Airlines joined the alliance on 1 March 2003,[22] Spanair on 1 May,[23] and LOT Polish Airlines (Poland's flag carrier) in October.[24] Around this time, Mexicana Airlines left the alliance after deciding not to renew a codeshare agreement with United Airlines, later joining Oneworld.[21] US Airways joined the alliance in May 2004,[25] becoming its second US-based airline. In November Adria Airways, Blue1 and Croatia Airlines joined the alliance as its first three regional members.[26] Although Star Alliance invited Lineas Aereas Azteca in 2005 to join in mid-2007, the airline filed for bankruptcy. TAP Air Portugal joined on 14 March 2005, adding African destinations to the network.[27][28] In April 2006 Swiss International Air Lines, the alliance's sixth European airline, and South African Airways (its first African carrier) became the 17th and 18th members.[29] 2007: First decade By May 2007, Star Alliance's 10th anniversary, its members had a combined 16,000 daily departures to 855 destinations in 155 countries and served 406 million passengers annually. The alliance introduced Biosphere Connections, a partnership with UNESCO, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), and the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands to promote environmental sustainability.[30][31] Today, nearly 30% of global air travellers use the services of our member carriers or, looking at it from an overall industry perspective, two-thirds of worldwide air travellers use one of the three airline alliances. — Jaan Albrecht, former Star Alliance CEO[32] VARIG left the alliance on 31 January 2007,[33] and the two Chinese airlines, Air China and Shanghai Airlines joined on 12 December.[34] 2008–2010: Second decade of operations On 1 April 2008, Turkish Airlines joined the alliance after a 15-month integration process beginning in December 2006, becoming its 20th member.[35] EgyptAir, Egypt's national airline and Star Alliance's second African carrier, joined on 11 July 2008.[36] On 27 October 2009, Continental Airlines became the 25th member of Star Alliance after leaving SkyTeam three days earlier. According to alliance CEO Jaan Albrecht, "Bringing Continental Airlines into Star Alliance has been a truly unique experience. This is the first time an airline has moved directly from one alliance to another and I would like to thank all those involved in ensuring a smooth switch". At the time, it was rumoured that the switch was Continental's first move in a planned merger with United Airlines.[37] Two months later, Brussels Airlines joined the alliance.[38] Brazilian carrier TAM Airlines joined Star Alliance on 13 May 2010,[39] increasing its foothold in South America.[40] Aegean Airlines, Greece's largest airline by number of passengers, joined on 30 June.[41] Shanghai Airlines left the alliance on 31 October 2010 when it merged with China Eastern Airlines, a SkyTeam member.[42] On 29 September, the chief executive board approved Ethiopian Airlines as Star Alliance's 30th member.[43][44] In 2010 the alliance flew to 1,172 airports in 181 countries, with about 21,200 daily departures.[43] 2011–present: further expansion and stability Since 2011, the alliance has gained several large members but has lost others due to collapse or mergers. On 13 December 2011, Ethiopian Airlines joined, adding five countries and 24 destinations to the alliance's map.[45] Star Alliance saw a tumultuous 2012–13, starting with two key departures but ending with a major move into Latin America. In Europe, Spanair ceased operations, and BMI left after being acquired by International Airlines Group (IAG), the parent company of Oneworld members Iberia and British Airways. BMI was integrated into British Airways.[46][47] In North America, Continental merged with United Airlines, reducing Star's membership further, even if it effectively stayed in the alliance after the merger.[48] On 21 June, though, Avianca, TACA Airlines and Copa Airlines joined, massively increasing the alliance's Latin American presence.[49] In November, Blue1 left after becoming an affiliate of parent Scandinavian Airlines.[50] and Shenzhen Airlines joined, augmenting Air China's Chinese network.[51] Taiwanese carrier EVA Air then joined on 18 June 2013, and after TACA's integration into Avianca, the alliance grew to 28 members, making it the largest of the three major airline alliances.[52][53] On 13 December, Air India was again invited to begin an integration process with Star Alliance and joined the alliance on 3 July 2014.[54] Following this string of expansions, 2014 opened with two major departures through mergers. First, Brazilian carrier TAM Airlines merged with LAN Airlines to become LATAM Airlines Group, leaving the alliance without a presence in the world's fifth-largest country.[55] Next, US Airways completed its merger with American Airlines and also left the alliance.[56] Both parent companies stayed with Oneworld. On 24 June, though, the alliance finally approved Air India which joined on 11 July, leaving the alliance at 27 members, where it stands today.[57][58][59][60] Future expansion centers around the addition of Connecting Partners, subsidiaries or partners of alliance members which will add connectivity to the alliance without becoming full members. Avianca Brazil joined in this way on 22 July 2015, bringing the alliance back into the Brazilian market partially filling the void left by TAM.[61] South African Airways' low-cost subsidiary, Mango, was initially announced to join as a Connecting Partner in Q3 2016[62] but has since been delayed.