Byrdluvs747 From United States of America, joined Jul 2004, 2148 posts, RR: 1 Reply 1, posted (1 year 10 months 3 weeks 2 days 22 hours ago) and read 34344 times:
I wouldn't mind seeing 9W join *A, and keep it out of SkyTeam.
The 747: The hands who designed it were guided by god.
kiwiandrew From New Zealand, joined Jun 2005, 8435 posts, RR: 14 Reply 3, posted (1 year 10 months 3 weeks 2 days 22 hours ago) and read 34054 times:
I'm guessing it will be the announcement that against all odds AI have somehow managed to scrape in after all before the final deadline (though it will probably be phrased more tactfully than that)...and, of course, in an amazing "coincidence" the Indian Government will announce that LH suddenly has approval to fly the A380 to India
Some other guesses:
Announcements of EVA / Shenzhen airlines as future members.
Announcement of Jet Airways as a future member ( in conjunction with AI 'scraping in' announcement).
Announcement of Transaero as a future member ( though I expect this announcement will be at least a couple of years in the future - I think they have a lot of work to do before they are ready for membership).
Some hitherto unspeculated ( if that is actually a word) new member from way out in the left field.
[Edited 2011-07-05 12:01:03]
Moderation in all things ... including moderation ;-)
Ota1 From Germany, joined Apr 2008, 394 posts, RR: 0 Reply 4, posted (1 year 10 months 3 weeks 2 days 22 hours ago) and read 34007 times:
Quoting EddieDude (Reply 2): But I think it is the AI formal accession date announcement.
Well, that was my very first thought, too. But then again, this would be the first time they make a "major" announcement about an accession date. I believe it's something else.... not necessarily a new member though.
LVTMB From United States of America, joined Oct 2004, 380 posts, RR: 0 Reply 6, posted (1 year 10 months 3 weeks 2 days 22 hours ago) and read 33959 times:
Lan/Tam-related? i.e., future membership of LATAM?
kiwiandrew From New Zealand, joined Jun 2005, 8435 posts, RR: 14 Reply 7, posted (1 year 10 months 3 weeks 2 days 22 hours ago) and read 33955 times:
Quoting Ota1 (Reply 4): I believe it's something else.... not necessarily a new member though.
That is a good point. I guess we will all know soon enough... what are the odds that in 24 hours we will be scratching our heads and going "What was major about that announcement?"
Moderation in all things ... including moderation ;-)
United787 From United States of America, joined May 2005, 2346 posts, RR: 1 Reply 8, posted (1 year 10 months 3 weeks 2 days 22 hours ago) and read 33913 times:
I am betting on Virgin Atlantic... or maybe even the entire Virgin group... didn't they announce they were looking?
Etihad is probably too soon although they want to join an alliance also...
Delimit From United States of America, joined Jan 2009, 1433 posts, RR: 1 Reply 10, posted (1 year 10 months 3 weeks 2 days 22 hours ago) and read 33859 times:
I'd go with AI, especially after having gone public with the deadline. The GOI would be pleased with a little fanfare.
kiwiandrew From New Zealand, joined Jun 2005, 8435 posts, RR: 14 Reply 11, posted (1 year 10 months 3 weeks 2 days 22 hours ago) and read 33862 times:
Quoting LVTMB (Reply 6): Lan/Tam-related? i.e., future membership of LATAM?
I can't see that for a number of reasons, not least of which is that the merger is still going through the regulatory approval process, it is still possible that there may not even be a merger. (Personally I am very pessimistic, I think it will go ahead and *A will lose JJ to OW, but that is by no means a certainty).
Moderation in all things ... including moderation ;-)
avek00 From United States of America, joined Oct 2004, 4092 posts, RR: 18 Reply 14, posted (1 year 10 months 3 weeks 2 days 21 hours ago) and read 33580 times:
My guess is a new smartphone application that will allow for OLCI and res lookup for most/all Star Alliance member airlines. That would constitute a major announcement.
staralliance85 From United States of America, joined Jul 2011, 171 posts, RR: 0 Reply 17, posted (1 year 10 months 3 weeks 2 days 21 hours ago) and read 33374 times:
My guess is either Etihad, Qatar Airways, Jet Airways or Virgin Atlantic is going to announce their membership.
Ota1 From Germany, joined Apr 2008, 394 posts, RR: 0 Reply 18, posted (1 year 10 months 3 weeks 2 days 21 hours ago) and read 33020 times:
Quoting kiwiandrew (Reply 3): Announcement of Transaero as a future member
I agree UN would be a good fit in the future ... there recently have been reports about talks with UTAir - I wonder if they might consider adding both of them at some point.
Quoting kiwiandrew (Reply 3):
Some hitherto unspeculated ( if that is actually a word) new member from way out in the left field
Caribbean Airlines? Tunisair? Air Astana?
Quoting kiwiandrew (Reply 7): That is a good point. I guess we will all know soon enough... what are the odds that in 24 hours we will be scratching our heads and going "What was major about that announcement?"
Quoting avek00 (Reply 14): My guess is a new smartphone application that will allow for OLCI and res lookup for most/all Star Alliance member airlines. That would constitute a major announcement.
Hope not. Though I could definitely see some room for improvements here, I'd personally not rate that a major announcement....
Quoting kiwiandrew (Reply 11): I think it will go ahead and *A will lose JJ to OW, but that is by no means a certainty).
I really hope you're wrong here, Andrew... Loosing TAM would be a big blow.
VC10er From United States of America, joined Feb 2007, 2430 posts, RR: 9 Reply 20, posted (1 year 10 months 3 weeks 2 days 21 hours ago) and read 32877 times:
I certainly have no clue what it is, if it is the entry of a new airline I hope it is one of the more glam airlines. I think Star has expanded so much some very ordinary airlines are in the mix. When I look at the sign they have at every counter with all the logo's stacked - the very prestigous airlines get lost!
Also, I wonder how much they spend on those small plastic signs every time they need to change them. The small ones are not like the floor standing units where all they need to do is add a new airline or take one off. In RIC the floor standing ones still have VARIG on them. I'm dying to take it off and keep it. These days I'd probably spend 10 years in prison if I got caught.
The world is missing love, let's use our flights to spread it!
copenhagenboy From Denmark, joined Sep 2001, 589 posts, RR: 1 Reply 22, posted (1 year 10 months 3 weeks 2 days 20 hours ago) and read 32078 times:
Join Venture between the Lufthansa Group & SAS and Singapore Airlines & Thai Airways on the Europe-Asian flights?
There have been rumors about someting like that for a while. On the other hand, why should that be announced by Star.
Blueman87 From United States of America, joined Aug 2009, 535 posts, RR: 0 Reply 23, posted (1 year 10 months 3 weeks 2 days 20 hours ago) and read 31554 times:
catiii From United States of America, joined Mar 2008, 2279 posts, RR: 3 Reply 24, posted (1 year 10 months 3 weeks 2 days 20 hours ago) and read 31341 times:
Wouldn't make sense, especially with the agreements they've made with AA.
25 kiwiandrew: I can't rule it out, but IMHO it would be very unlikely. They have been recently strengthening ties with a number of OW carriers, LH don't have that
26 eastern023: Is it true that back in the day LA was looking to join Star? Star was more attracted to VARIG (for good reasons) back then so they signed the brazilia
27 kiwiandrew: I hadn't heard of that. A long time ago, way pre *A, when LA were first privatised SK took a significant stake (SK also held a stake in CO at one tim
28 YTZ: One in a million that 9W is in and AI is out. One can always dream right?
29 mogandoCI: I'm hoping for QR or VS. THAT would be major. but more importantly, whether LAN/TAM chooses OW or SA. (never mind the antitrust issues of how a LAN/T
30 worldliner: I think it will be a far east carrier, perhaps Eva or Shenzhen.
31 ywgjets: Possibly. I certainly hope so as next week I'm flying EBB-ADD-LFW-[ABJ-OUA]-NIM in J-class. It would be nice to get some FF points for that.
32 EddieDude: I think the combination will be authorized by both the Chilean and Brazilian regulators. It will take time and perhaps some concessions to preserve c
33 TeamInTheSky: My guesses in order of what I think is likely: 1) AI is actually officially joining the alliance. LH will play this up so they can finally get rights
35 lhrnue: I would like to hear: Virgin Atlantic and BMI getting merged and Star will turn the new Terminal 2 at LHR together with Singapore Airlines, United and
36 luganopirate: Long odds on Qatar. Shorter odds on Virgin!
37 mogandoCI: VS would provide much needed true premium LHR presence (since bmi is already a semi-LCC). VS@LHR and Swiss@ZRH would provide premium top-business mar
38 LAXdude1023: Id love to see QR in there. They would make a great addition.
39 9252fly: My sense is that it has something to do with VS. What may imply a 'major' announcement would be if it were to include BD in mix with SQ unloading it s
41 RAGAZZO777: In that case then almost all of South America would be Star territory (Avianca, TACA Peru, LAN Airlines [LA, LP, 4M, XL], and TAM).
42 DTWHKG: Yup. Among all possibilities, only VS joining *A qualifies for "major" in my book.
43 snn2003: Copa? They need to join their friends at CO/UA. SNN
44 BD338: knowing how any marketing group likes to make a big deal out of practically nothing, could it be something as benign as (or related to) the ANA announ
45 Kleiner: Richard Branson is in Brisbane tomorrow (July 6th), speaking at the Asia Pacific Cities Summit. This rules Virgin out. Surly Brisbane isn't where SRB
46 777law: If it's the announcement of a new member airline (and it may not be) my guess is that it will be either AI is joining (for all the reasons discussed s
47 xiaotung: I think it would be Shenzhen Airlines and EVA Airways joining the alliance. I guess then this does not rule DJ out although it's highly unlikely.
48 aer: My crazy idea would be a consolidation of all FF programs into one.
49 DTWLAX: I think it is this: Etihad Set To Join An Alliance (by ju068 Jul 3 2011 in Civil Aviation)
50 nycdave: You know, none of the big name mid-east carriers are currently aligned... that would be a HUGE get... and we all know Etihad, Emirates, and Qatar all
51 xiaotung: The penny has dropped guys. It's Shenzhen Airlines. It has been announced on the airline's official Chinese equivalent of Twitter that a ceremony will
52 EnviroTO: In my opinion "major announcement" means space travel. Maybe Star Alliance is the launch customer for the new 797 which gets you to Alpha Centauri wit
54 mayor: I would think it's unlikely, too, considering that they just got the JV with DL, going.
55 LFutia: I doubt it, I was at O'Hare today and I saw that jetBlue moved from Terminal 2 to Terminal 3. Leo/ORD
56 kiwiandrew: According to another website there was briefly an announcement on the Star Alliance website announcing the Shenzhen Airlines will be joining, shortly
57 sofianec: Shenzhen Airlines joining is hardly a Major announcement. It was expected as an Air China subsidiary for them to join sooner or later. Major announcem
58 SCL767: Shenzhen Airlines to sign MoU today to join Star: http://www.flightglobal.com/articles...o-sign-mou-today-to-join-star.html
59 bralo20: I would hardly call this a major announcement but I guess we'll have to do with it...
60 xiaotung: Given the event is taking place in Shenzhen I am afriad today is about Shenzhen.
61 sofianec: Still great news. Too bad it's not something more "Major". ---
62 UAL777UK: I agree, I was hoping for something a lot bigger, AI date of joining or similar. If this is major then that will be monumental!
63 Ota1: ZH is China's 4th largest domestic airline and the 5th largest Chinese carrier overall... so it's quite major. But I agree this was more or less a giv
64 kenjaychen: It has been confirmed that Shenzhen airlines will be joining Stat Alliance, but not sure about VS. The boss from VS mentioned before they hope to corp
65 vegas005: I would love to see Star Alliance form a true "alliance" where ticketing worked seemlessley across airlines and all member airlines awarded approrpiat
66 TeamInTheSky: Well off by one, however, with CZ and MU adding affiliates to Skyteam, it was only a matter of time. This will add a number of good connections thoug
67 kressi1k: I completely agree with vegas005! This would be a real step forward. Not noly the tickets and miles but if they finally find a solution that all the
68 SInGAPORE_AIR: Wasn't Shenzhen meant to be merging with China Eastern who is joining SkyTeam ?
69 Coal: That's FM and it already happened. I'm not very happy about ZH joining. After a crash last year, they found over 200 pilots from Henan Airlines, full
70 spr773: Perhaps the annoucement would be that they will not be bringing AI onboard and instead have put 9W after super secret negotiations
71 WCARN: ZH will officially join Star Alliance today. See its Xinlang Weibo: http://weibo.com/1714315562/eDqu82G81AZ
72 Nimish: No worries - most of us Indians think the same way you do - AI needs to be put out of it's misery... That being said, I was rather hoping this would
73 kiwiandrew: OK, it is finally live on the Star website. http://www.staralliance.com/en/press/shenzhenairlines-prp/ SHENZHEN, China - July 6th, 2011 - Star Allianc
75 kiwiandrew: AI ET TA CM AV.... or maybe they are classing AV/TA as one carrier in which case it would be ZH , AV/TA , CM , ET , AI .[Edited 2011-07-06 02:16:41]
76 UAL777UK: Okay cheers but did you not forget 9W
77 EBGflyer: Official press release from Star: http://www.staralliance.com/en/press/shenzhenairlines-prp/[Edited 2011-07-06 02:51:40]
78 bill142: They also have JV agreements with SQ and NZ who are both *A. In addition they have one with EY, who are as yet unaligned. If DJ do join an alliance t
79 Delimit: To be perfectly correct; they have a cooperation agreement with SQ, not a JV. Basically ATI in the American context. I believe the NZ alliance is sup
80 Fuling: I am with all those who said Virgin Australia or Virgin Atlantic.
81 carnoc: Some photos of the Shenzhen Airlines - Star Alliance MoU signing ceremony are available at http://www.wcarn.com/list/14/14868.html
82 VC10er: The release I read on Star Alliance said they operate 747's???
83 xiaotung: They must have included Jade Cargo which is co-owned by ZH and LH.
84 Ota1: Found an interesting read: Shenzhen Airlines to boost Star Alliance’s presence in southern China Here some of the key points: - ZH will boost Star's
85 MCOGVADCA: Very interesting. In another thread today, we were talking about potential new SZX international service. This could definitely be a catalyst for inc
86 kiwiandrew: I'm surprised that they haven't also brought in Shandong Airlines which is 100% owned by CA, if I am not mistaken.
87 kiwiandrew: Very interesting, and possibly dangerous, game to play. If it goes wrong they could end up left with no Indian carrier at all. I hope they pull it of
88 UAL777UK: Really? Is there a source for this? Very dangerous I agree or is this all part of a strategy to force the GOI to make some decisions pronto? It all s
89 TeamInTheSky: I am really stunned by this one, and it is obviously a big game of chicken to play with the GOI. However, I have no doubt that the GOI could call 9W
90 bralo20: I guess it's all about Jet Airways... Well, Star Alliance admited in the past that they requested Jet Airways to join and that they were able to join
91 TeamInTheSky: I just think it is quite brash of Star Alliance to put the "NO" option on the table. We are talking about India, not Equatorial Guinea or some other
92 kiwiandrew: I have to admit that if this story is correct, leaking it may have been a major blunder. No government likes to be seen to be responding to coercion.
93 Delimit: Honestly, a bad strategy for happy relations with almost any government, but especially bad for India.
94 ojas: And for all practical purposes if this condition is put in front of Air India, the govt. will just say F**k off and you will have NO Star partners fr
95 TeamInTheSky: You don't see what happening? The GOI allowing AI and 9W in the same alliance or the GOI bending to Star Alliance's wants? Would to GOI be so bold as
96 lightsaber: Congrats. Not supper exciting as say 9W joining *A, but a nice addition. Be carefull for what you (AI) wish for. LH, UA, and SQ are getting tired of
97 ojas: Yes. See the Govt. of India overall doesn't give a rat's ass about the civil aviation sector as the % of flying people in India is like what .... 9%
98 Delimit: Sure. Goverments regualrly make these sorts of decisions. Sort of similar to the game Germany is engaging in with EK? This sort of behavior is fairly
99 EddieDude: I guess we first need to be sure that the story is actually correct. I don't think we have seen any link or any other basis that gives credibility to
100 kiwiandrew: I'm not saying it's fair or reasonable, but governments often bully airlines (it's practically a part of the job description ) but airlines bullying
101 YTZ: What was LH's motivation though? If it was to fly the A380, surely they would have gotten it sooner or later regardless of which partner they picked?
102 Delimit: According to the full story (there's more than just the exerpt posted here), Star will be meeting with the ministry in 2 weeks to discuss the matter.
103 kiwiandrew: Yes, I read the story, but I am also aware that a single news story is not necessarily reliable, even when it comes from a usually reputable source (
104 lightsaber: I suspect you are correct. *A has been incredibly patient to date. Perhaps AI or someone who thinks they are doing AI a favor is spreading rumors? An
105 ETinCaribe: As in 110M people roughly and growing. I guess they are the only ones who don't care, almost everyone else cares. Looks like they don't really care..
106 ojas: 9W has been flying international since 2004 and they had a good domestic network back then as well, which is what LH was interested in. The internati
107 avek00: 1. India's economic history suggests that the GOI will go to great lengths to ensure that a significant part of the Indian economy -- such as its com
108 Qazar: So whose the next one? - EVA - Shandong Airlines - Jet Airways - Air Astana - Carribean Airlines/Air Jamaica ... : )
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Loosing TAM would be a big blow.
Well, they've also got LH from next summer as well then 
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