Oneworld Totally Explained

Everything about Oneworld totally explained

Oneworld is the third largest airline alliance in the world after Star Alliance and SkyTeam. Member airlines and their affiliates enjoy a high degree of co-operation in scheduling, ticketing, code sharing, flight transfer operations, frequent flyer benefits, shared airport lounges, reducing costs, and sharing best practices.
   Oneworld, formed in 1999, was the first airline alliance to establish a central management team. Based in Vancouver, Canada, the Oneworld Management Company has a Managing Partner, reporting to the alliance board, which is made up of the Chief Executives of each of the member airlines. Chairman of the board is held on a rotating basis. Reporting to the Managing Partner are function heads for Commercial, IT, Public Relations, Airports and Customer Experience, and a Global Project Director.
   Member airlines also develop common specifications as widely as possible across their engineering and maintenance activities, aligning their policies and procedures and work together to develop and support solutions that can be applied throughout the airline industry. Costs are also reduced through bulk buying and by sharing parts between one another.
   After a considerable expansion in 2007 (Japan Airlines, Royal Jordanian and Malév Hungarian Airlines joined as member airlines, while LAN Ecuador, LAN Argentina, Dragonair and five subsidiaries of Japan Airlines joined as affiliate airlines) the alliance now reaches roughly 700 destinations in nearly 150 countries around the world, operating over 9000 daily flights. It is the only alliance that has a full network in Australia (Qantas) and the only alliance with a member based in South America (LAN Airlines). In 2006, Oneworld carried over 321 million passengers on a combined fleet of some 2300 aircraft. It is the only airline alliance whose members earned a combined profit in the past year, US$1.5 billion net, against combined losses by Star Alliance carriers totaling more than US$2.2 billion and an overall deficit by SkyTeam members in excess of US$7 billion.
   Oneworld was voted the world's best airline alliance in the 2004 Business Traveller Awards and named the World's Leading Airline Alliance for the fifth consecutive year at the 2007 World Travel Awards.

Membership history

1998 — Oneworld is launched in September when American Airlines, British Airways, Canadian Airlines, Cathay Pacific and Qantas Airways announce their intention to form an alliance.

1999 — Oneworld becomes operational on February 1, and member airlines begin joining the alliance. Iberia and Finnair join later that year.

2000 — Aer Lingus and LanChile (now known as LAN Airlines) joined the alliance. After a period of financial difficulty, Oneworld founding member Canadian Airlines exited the alliance while being acquired by Air Canada, a Star Alliance member.

2003–2004 — Swiss International Air Lines accepts an invitation to join in September 2003, but in June 2004 Swiss terminated the agreement.

2005 — on October 17, Royal Jordanian accepts an invitation to join Oneworld. On October 25, Japan Airlines admitted that the airline is seeking a membership in Oneworld. On November 22, Malév accepted a formal invitation to join the alliance.

2006 — Japan Airlines signs a Memorandum of Understanding with Oneworld. The airline will join the alliance after reaching the remaining agreements.

2007 — on April 1, Japan Airlines, Royal Jordanian and Malév joined the alliance as member airlines; five subsidiaries of Japan Airlines and two subsidiaries of LAN Airlines, LAN Ecuador and LAN Argentina joined Oneworld as affiliate airlines. On the same day Aer Lingus voluntarily exited the alliance. On November 1, Dragonair joined as an affiliate airline (as Cathay Pacific subsidiary).

2008 - on April 9, Mexicana is elected by the oneworld members to join the alliance.

Co-location

More recently, Oneworld members have been co-locating in airports. Below are some of the major co-locations:

2006 — All Oneworld airlines serving Madrid moved into the new Terminal 4 on 5 February. The airport is the home base of member Iberia. Future member Malév moves to Terminal 8 at John F. Kennedy International Airport to co-locate with American Airlines and Finnair. Also, Royal Jordanian moves to Domodedovo Airport in Moscow, Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris, and to John F. Kennedy Airport (Terminal 4) in New York in order to simplify transfers with other Oneworld airlines.

2007 — Oneworld members serving Narita International Airport move together into Terminal 2 to align with Japan Airlines hub. All Oneworld member airlines, except British Airways, are now in Terminal 2.

2008 — Most British Airways flights moved into Terminal 5 in March 2008, the remainder (apart from flights involved in a JSA - Joint Services Agreement) moving across in June 2008. The remaining flights, including flights to SYD, BKK and SIN, will operate from Terminal 4 until early 2009. British Airways will have exclusive use of the new Terminal 5, and will continue to operate a limited number of flights at Terminal 3, namely flights to (amongst others) SIN, BKK and SYD, The rest of oneworld flights that are not already in Terminal 3 will remain where they're until early 2009.
Furthermore, all Oneworld members moved to Terminal 1 of Shanghai Pudong International Airport as well as Terminal 3 of Beijing Capital International Airport along with Star Alliance members.

Logo on aircraft

The small Oneworld logo (approx 10cm in diameter) is found upon the entry door, on the right, on any aircraft of the Oneworld member airlines.
In addition, Japan Airlines has painted two of its Boeing 777 aircraft in a special Oneworld livery to mark its entrance into the alliance.

Member airlines

Members and affiliate members

The current Oneworld members and affiliate** members include:(External Link

)

American Airlines*

American Eagle
- Executive Air
AmericanConnection
- Chautauqua Airlines
- Trans States Airlines
British Airways*
- BA CityFlyer
- Comair
- Loganair (until October 2008)
- Sun Air
Cathay Pacific*
- Dragonair
Finnair
Iberia
- Air Nostrum
Japan Airlines
LAN
Malév Hungarian Airlines
Qantas Airways*
- JetConnect
- QantasLink
- Royal Jordanian * founding member
  ** note that some of the affiliate member airlines may also have another tier of subsidiary airlines operating for them but those secondary subsidiaries may not be affiliated with Oneworld

Non-member subsidiaries

Note that some of the member airlines have subsidiaries which are not considered to be part of Oneworld. This include:

Hokkaido Air System, a Japan Airlines feeder airline

Jetstar Airways, a subsidiary of Qantas Airways

Jetstar Asia Airways, a partnership of Orange Star and Qantas Airways

Jetstar Pacific, a partnership of SCIC and Qantas Airways

Japan Air Commuter, a Japan Airlines feeder airline

OpenSkies, a subsidiary of British Airways (from June 2008)

LAN Dominicana, a subsidiary of LAN Airlines

Ryukyu Air Commuter, a Japan Airlines feeder airline

Future Members

Mexicana de Aviacion and Click Mexicana On 9 April 2008, Mexicana accepted an invitation to join the Oneworld alliance. Its subsidiary Click Mexicana will also join as an affiliate member. The airline's primary sponsor is Iberia, assisted by American Airlines. Mexicana currently enjoys bilateral relationships such as codesharing and frequent flyer programs, with oneworld members American Airlines, Cathay Pacific, Iberia, Japan Airlines and Qantas. The joining process is expected to take between 12 and 18 months.

Possible future members

Oneworld has expressed its desire to recruit new member airlines while several airlines have expressed their intention to join the alliance.

Brussels Airlines - expressed its interest to join one of the major airline alliances, considering it a priority for the airline. However, a potential purchase by Lufthansa may stop it from joining oneworld. The airline has codeshare agreements with American Airlines, British Airways, Finnair and Malév Hungarian Airlines.

China Eastern Airlines - the airline has been courted by Oneworld and currently codeshares with American Airlines, British Airways and Japan Airlines. However, Air France and China Southern Airlines are lobbying at the airline to join SkyTeam.

Continental Airlines - currently evaluating alternatives to its membership of rival alliance Skyteam and is reportedly in alliance talks with British Airways and American Airlines.

Grand China Airlines - the airline previously known as Hainan Airlines has expressed interest in joining Oneworld and has codeshare agreements with Japan Airlines and Malév Hungarian Airlines.

S7 Airlines - was in negotiations with British Airways in 2007 to possibly join the alliance in the near future.

Vietnam Airlines - current member Japan Airlines has expressed a desire to recruit a member to expand the oneworld network in South East Asia. It plans to provide Vietnam Airlines with technological and operational knowhow to bring it up to oneworld standards, before sponsoring it for membership. The airline currently codeshares with American Airlines, Cathay Pacific, Japan Airlines and Qantas and is a member of Cathay Pacific's Asia Miles program.

WestJet - currently in talks with Oneworld to possibly join the alliance in the near future. This would fill the void left by the departure of Canadian Airlines.

Former members

Canadian Airlines* - merged with and into Air Canada, a Star Alliance member in 2000

Aer Lingus - withdrew from the alliance on 1 April 2007 * founding member

Premium status

Oneworld has three premium levels - Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald - based on a customer's tier status in a member carrier's frequent flyer program. Emerald level is the highest level in each carrier's program. Each of the member airlines recognizes the elite statuses. The statuses have no specific requirements of their own; membership is based solely on the frequent flyer programs of individual member airlines.

Oneworld Ruby

Oneworld Ruby status is awarded to customers who have reached the first premium level of a member carrier's frequent flyer program.
Benefits of Oneworld Ruby membership:

Priority reservations waitlisting

Priority airport stand-by

Priority airport check-in (Business Class)

Preferred seating Membership tiers granting Oneworld Ruby:

American Airlines (AAdvantage) - Gold

British Airways (Executive Club) - British Airways doesn't have an equivalent Ruby tier

Cathay Pacific (Marco Polo Club) - Silver

Finnair (Finnair Plus) - Silver

Iberia (Iberia Plus) - Silver

Japan Airlines (JAL Mileage Bank) - Crystal

LAN (LanPass) - Premium

Malév (Duna Club) - Silver

Qantas Airways (Frequent Flyer) - Silver

Royal Jordanian (Royal Plus) - Silver

Oneworld Sapphire

Oneworld Sapphire status is awarded to customers who have reached the second highest premium level of a member carrier's frequent flyer program.
Benefits of Oneworld Sapphire membership:

Priority reservations waitlisting

Priority airport stand-by

Priority airport check-in (Business Class)

Preferred seating

Priority boarding

Airport lounge access (Business Class) Membership tiers granting Oneworld Sapphire:

American Airlines (AAdvantage) - Platinum

British Airways (Executive Club) - Silver

Cathay Pacific (Marco Polo Club) - Gold

Finnair (Finnair Plus) - Gold

Iberia (Iberia Plus) - Gold

Japan Airlines (JAL Mileage Bank) - Crystal (JAL Global Club members only) or Sapphire

LAN (LanPass) - Silver

Malév (Duna Club) - Gold

Qantas Airways (Frequent Flyer) - Gold

Royal Jordanian (Royal Plus) - Gold

Oneworld Emerald

Oneworld Emerald status is awarded to customers who have reached the highest premium level of a member carrier's frequent flyer program.
Benefits of Oneworld Emerald membership:

Priority reservations waitlisting

Priority airport stand-by

Priority airport check-in (Business/First Class)

Preferred seating

Priority boarding

Airport lounge access (Business/First Class) Membership tiers granting Oneworld Emerald:

American Airlines (AAdvantage) - Executive Platinum

British Airways (Executive Club) - Gold or Premier

Cathay Pacific (Marco Polo Club) - Diamond or Invitation

Finnair (Finnair Plus) - Platinum

Iberia (Iberia Plus) - Platinum

Japan Airlines (JAL Mileage Bank) - Premier (JAL Global Club members only) or Diamond

LAN (LanPass) - Comodoro

Malév (Duna Club) - Platinum

Qantas Airways (Frequent Flyer) - Platinum or Chairmans Lounge

Royal Jordanian (Royal Plus) - Platinum

Destinations

Further Information

Get more info on 'Oneworld'.

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