I don’t know if this has been discussed or not, but I have been wondering about this.
As some of you might know, US Airways and Delta Air Lines are both looking into merging with the bankrupted American Airlines. But
I have been asking myself this question. If American Airlines were to merge with US Airways, would they become a Star Alliance member, or stay as a Oneworld Alliance member? Or if they were to merge with Delta, would they become a Skyteam Member, or stay as a Oneworld member?
My opinion is IF they merged with one of the two, I think they’d leave Oneworld and join US Airways in Star Alliance or Delta in Skyteam.
Agreed. If AAL merges with AWE, AWE would leave Star Alliance. There’s no way they would leave the US to just the two partners (*A and SkyTeam), especially when there would have been 3 (4) airlines with them: UAL, COA, AAL, and AWE. That would drop down to 2 (UAL/COA, and AAL/AWE), with no OneWorld presence here. That would make transitioning hard for VIR and JAL.
For some reason, I still see AAL go to Star Alliance if they merge with AWE. But for Delta, my opinion has changed. Maybe they might go to Oneworld instead. I know I’m completely wrong, but this is how I see it.
If DAL went OneWorld, that would mean they would have to sever relations with KLM/AFR, as they are firmly ensconced in SkyTeam. Given the history NWA and KLM have had over the years, it would take a LOT for that to happen…
I forgot all about KLM and AFR’s relationship with DAL. I mean, if DAL didn’t merge with NWA, their sever relation wouldn’t be as big as of right now. NWA’s sever relations with KLM was close, and it still is now that they are apart of Delta. And I just remembered DAL, KLM, and AFR were one of the founding members of Skyteam. Plus Korean Air and Aeromexico. If a founding member, like DAL for instance, were to leave an alliance, in my opinion, I do not think the alliance would be the same.
