Wings of Change

摘要

The big trio of airline alliances - oneworld, Sky Team and Star - have played a crucial role in the air transport industry's development over the past 20 years by enabling people to fly pretty much everywhere, However, change is in the air. Although oneworld accepted Royal Air Maroc as a new member in March 2020 and will receive Alaska Airlines in 2021, the Latin American airline group LATAM left the alliance on May 1, 2020. Meanwhile, China Southern Airlines - the largest carrier in Asia by passengers carried with 150 million fliers in 2019 - left Sky Team on January 1 of this year after 11 years' membership.It doesn't automatically follow that LATAM and China Southern will join a different alliance. Putting aside the huge uncertainty about the exact shape of the airline business once the COVID-19 crisis has been resolved, there's now a trend for airlines to bypass the traditional alliances, instead pursuing joint ventures (JVs) with other carriers.