Question mark over Air India joining Star Alliance
A question mark hangs over Air India's efforts to join the global airline grouping Star Alliance, with the deadline for the national carrier expiring on Sunday.
July 28, 2011 / 18:53 IST
A question mark hangs over Air India's efforts to join the global airline grouping Star Alliance, with the deadline for the national carrier expiring on Sunday.
While an airline official said that the formal induction of Air India has been "postponed by a couple of weeks", industry sources said a meeting of the Star Alliance Chief Executives' Board would take a decision on Sunday.Air India was given a deadline of July 31 to meet all standards and criteria to join the Star Alliance network. On Sunday, the group's Board would vote to approve or disapprove the induction of the ailing national carrier. Air India's joining Star Alliance would not be possible even if a single member airline casts a negative vote, the sources said. Top Alliance officials had last week met Air India functionaries and senior government officials here and had
termed their discussions as "progressive".Star Alliance has also invited Jet Airways to join the grouping, along with Air India. As part of a crucial requirement, Air India integrated its ticketing code in February to 'AI'. The earlier ticketing codes were 'AI' and 'IC' which was a remnant of the pre-merger scenario where Indian Airlines and Air India operated separately.It also fulfilled another requirement of having the same code for domestic and international travel to ensure seamless travel. Joining the alliance would enable the national carrier to add depth to its route network in the international sector by providing passengers last mile connectivity in foreign countries.Formed in 1997, Star Alliance is a consortium of 27 airlines, including Lufthansa, Air Canada, Singapore Airlines, Thai Airways and Swiss. Together, its members have more than 4,000 aircraft and serve 1,160 airports in 181 countries.Air India started working on the technical formalities way back in 2007 and was originally slated to join the alliance in 2010.But it experienced trouble meeting major membership standards, especially those relating to information technology system integration. Lufthansa, a founding member of the grouping, recently said the Indian carrier needed to complete the formalities to meet all criteria before the July 31 deadline. The German national carrier was mentoring Air India to complete the essential requirements for joining the airlines.Star Alliance CEO Jaan Albrecht also reportedly warned that the group's invitation to Air India would be withdrawn if the carrier did not fulfil all requirements by that day. Discover the latest Business News, Sensex, and Nifty updates. Obtain Personal Finance insights, tax queries, and expert opinions on Moneycontrol or download the Moneycontrol App to stay updated!
