Since then, most airlines have collected themselves into three different alliances: OneWorld, Star Alliance, and SkyTeam.
FORBES: What Entrepreneurs Can Learn From Frequent-Flyer Programs
According to the Star Alliance something in the order of 50, 000 miles in October alone.
FORBES: Germany's Pirate Party: Technocrats With A New Purpose #refugeecamp
Lufthansa is doing something similar, by using its partners in the Star alliance as a market.
Should United liquidate, the 13 non-U.S. members of the route-sharing Star Alliance will be among the biggest victims.
And if United were to go out of business, its Star Alliance partners would have a hard time finding replacements.
That 2, 521-mile route is dominated by United and US Airways, who are competitors but also partners in the Star Alliance.
In 1997, United Airlines, Lufthansa, and Air Canada partnered together and formed Star Alliance, the first modern-day airline alliance.
FORBES: What Entrepreneurs Can Learn From Frequent-Flyer Programs
Such arrangements look less efficient than full-blown mergers: were it one company, the Star Alliance could save a lot in managerial overheads.
Even so, Star Alliance says it doesn't feel left out or threatened.
With the two largest groupings, Star Alliance and Oneworld, the most straightforward snags are those that limit the miles you can earn on partners.
CNN: ASIANOW - TIME Asia | Travel Watch | Getting Maximum Mileage from Air Miles
To shore up its international position, Varig last year joined the Star alliance, a loose association whose members include United Airlines and Germany's Lufthansa.
Uniteds reach is getting broader with the recent launch of the Star Alliance, a partnership with Lufthansa, SAS, Air Canada, Thai Airways and Brazils Varig.
Membership in a major alliance, including Star Alliance, SkyTeam and oneworld, can also be considered a reassurance to nervous travelers, Voss said.
Star Alliance is monitoring this relationship closely, especially because its chief member, Lufthansa, is the only major European airline that hasn't teamed up with a Gulf carrier.
Indeed, last week's trip was organized with help from airlines including Lufthansa, Continental and United in the Star Alliance, one of the three major airline groupings that market seats and services together.
Air Polonia will be the first local rival of state-owned LOT airline, which last month joined the Lufthansa-led Star Alliance to strengthen its position ahead of an expected battle with budget airlines.
They would expect to disentangle the new Aberdeen airline from the Lufthansa Star Alliance, and to look for new allies, probably in Scandinavia, with which to open up new long-haul options for Scottish business travellers.
Instead of using miles to travel the globe through the Star Alliance of carriers, however, US Airways customers will have to deal with new international partners through the oneworld alliance, led by American and British Airways.
This has helped earn Mr. Fyfe the position as inaugural chairman of Star Alliance, the world's largest airline alliance, not to mention requests from other airlines for the technology behind the "sky couch, " which offers flat-bed seating in economy.
WSJ: Managing in Asia: A Focus on People Keeps Little Guy Flying High
United, which last week signed a flight codesharing (joint marketing and air miles) deal with Swiss International Air Lines on top of its central role in the global Star Alliance, has long identified international routes as one of its best sources of profits.
"We're the only global alliance that flies to all of the countries in the Middle East and we really have no aspirations to have one of the carriers in the Gulf join our alliance, " says Mark Schwab, CEO for Star Alliance, which has 27 members.
Speaking on BBC Radio this morning, IAG's boss, Willie Walsh, made the point that this would be a far lower share of slots than Lufthansa and its Star Alliance partners have at Frankfurt, or that Air France and its fellow SkyTeam airlines have at Paris Charles de Gaulle.
There are three major frequent flyer alliances that bring together the loyalty programs from several different airlines: Star Alliance (United, Continental, US Airways, Lufthansa, Singapore Airlines, and 21 more), One World (American Airlines, British Airways, Iberia, and nine others) and Sky Team (Delta, Air France, KLM, plus 10 more).
Might United's plight deal a severe blow to the world's largest airline alliance, the Star group, founded by United and Germany's Lufthansa, and since extended to about a dozen other carriers?
ECONOMIST: United Airlines could bring down other American carriers
The wild-card party of Beppe Grillo, the grass-roots Five-Star Movement, will also not enter into an alliance.
Just over half of Italians that voted cast their ballots in favor of either the center right alliance of former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi or the Five Star Movement of former comedian Beppe Grillo.
While American and British Airways pull their hair trying to convince regulators that their intended alliance wont diminish competition on trans-atlantic flights, the Star partners already have antitrust approval and are moving ahead with engines at full throttle.
应用推荐