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Several years before taking over as CEO of Etihad Airways, James Hogan was a senior executive at British Midland International, a small, now defunct, UK airline and one of the earliest members of Star Alliance. “It’s like being in a Catholic Irish family with 10 kids,” Hogan once said, describing the experience of attending alliance meetings with executives from other airlines. “If you are at the end of the table, it’s like, ‘Can you pass the beans?’” The idea of airline alliances was hatched a couple of decades ago, partially as an opportunity to make travel more seamless for customers. Star Alliance was first of the three major global alliances to form, starting in 1997 with Air Canada, Lufthansa, SAS, Thai Airways, and United Airlines. In Star, like its competitors, OneWorld and SkyTeam, passengers are supposed to be able to use their frequent flyer miles on any airline, and they should have a cohesive travel experience, when flying two or more Star Alliance carriers on the same itinerary. Elite frequent flyers also receive reciprocal perks across all airlines. The system works most of the time, though travelers sometimes report that some carriers do not make cross-airline travel as seamless as they should. In some respects, that’s not a surprise. As the Star Alliance has grown — it now has 28 member airlines, based on every continent except Australia — it has been tough to keep carriers focused on the same strategy. Sometimes, every airlines wants something different, and they’re not necessarily equal partners. Some airlines, like Lufthansa, United, and Air Canada, are much larger and more powerful than newer members like LOT Polish, Aegean, Eva Air, and Tap Portugal. As Etihad’s Hogan alluded to, sometimes smaller players feel they’re not as involved in decision-making. For the past five years, the job of driving consensus among member airlines has fallen to Mark Schwab, the CEO of Star Alliance. Schwab is retiring at the end of December. Story is an exit interview discussing the challenges of running Star Alliance, and the alliance’s plans for the future.<br/>

Ethiopia has built one of Africa’s rare corporate success stories with the continent’s only consistently profitable airline shuttling passengers from around the world through its hub in Addis Ababa. Yet just as state-owned Ethiopian Airlines starts to vie with the likes of Dubai-based Emirates, outbreaks of violence around ethnic and human-rights protests have claimed an estimated 500 lives since June, threatening to deter travelers and undermining the political stability that helped it flourish. It’s also grappling with the challenges of doing business in the region, with more than $200m in ticket payments tied up in countries including Nigeria and Angola, which the airline says is putting pressure on its liquidity. CEO Tewolde GebreMariam insists the unrest and a subsequent state of emergency imposed Oct. 8 is a “non-issue” for the airline, which links almost 70 African cities to destinations in Europe, North and South America, the Middle East and Asia. The executive is determined to push ahead with an expansion for a company that could be the last hope for a viable African aviation industry. “The reality on the ground is peaceful. It’s business as usual,” the CEO said. That remains the case still, he said by e-mail on Thursday, citing an 18% year-on-year increase in October passenger traffic. “We have not seen measurable changes.” That doesn’t mean the company is out of the woods, as many of those passengers would have likely booked tickets before the crisis escalated and Western countries issued travel warnings. The bigger test will ultimately come if security measures are lifted as planned in April. Ethiopian’s ability to weather the crisis and continue with its ambitious plans is critical for the continent’s aviation sector after corruption and missteps undermined peers. African airlines now account for about 20% of air traffic to and from the continent, down from 60% three decades ago, according to Tewolde.<br/>

When you think of Singapore Airlines, visions appear of cushy premium cabins, bespoke leather seats, and free-flowing Champagne poured by the carrier’s throwback “Singapore girls” flight attendants. It’s all that, yes. But the luxury carrier is working hard to diversify with budget airlines under its corporate banner. It owns low-cost carrier Scoot; 49% of Vistara, a joint venture in India with Tata Sons Ltd.; and NokScoot, a low-cost Thai airline Singapore owns in a joint venture with Nok Airlines. This collection of airlines—plus a new “ultra long range” Airbus A350 variant scheduled to arrive in 2018—enables Singapore to explore a range of expansion plans, many of which are currently focused on North America. It’s no coincidence that the region continues to be the runaway success story of airline profitability. It will provide roughly two-thirds of the industry’s projected $29b net income next year, according to estimates released Dec. 8 by the IATA. Singapore’s portfolio of carriers offers “a lot more nimbleness and flexibility in addressing the needs of the markets,” CEO Goh Choon Phong said Dec. 6 in New York. Last month, Singapore reported a 70% drop in net income and warned that 2017 could be challenging as well. The airline has struggled amid the expansion of low-cost carriers in its home region, and moves by a trio of Middle East-based full-service airlines to encroach on its core franchise of premium business travelers. “It’s not going to be business as usual,” said Goh. “These are structural changes; these are changes that are not going to go away.” Into this environment, the CEO has prescribed a diversification of revenue, a renewed focus on cabin comforts for big spenders, and new markets. A chief pillar of the company’s expansion rests on further long-haul expansion, driven by firm orders for 67 new Airbus A350s and 30 of Boeing Co.’s largest 787 variant, the -10. “We have called it a game changer for us and there’s a reason for that,” Goh said, alluding to the growth opportunities the A350 affords. With these new, more fuel-efficient planes, Singapore executives have been keen to resume the nonstop flights from the city state to New York and Los Angeles, which operated for nine years before ending in 2013 because of the route’s extreme fuel costs. The airline is also considering the potential for new US destinations, having for years studied traffic flows in places like Boston, Chicago, and Miami, Goh said. <br/>

The Competition Commission of Singapore (CCS) on Monday said it has accepted voluntary commitments from Singapore Airlines and Lufthansa, in clearing their proposed joint venture. The joint venture involves co-operation between SIA and Lufthansa regarding scheduled air passenger services between some European countries - specifically Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Belgium - and Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia and Australia in Asia-Pacific. Story lists commitments. With these commitments, CCS said it is of the view that the competition concerns that were previously identified on these routes will be addressed, and that the proposed joint venture will result in economic benefits to Singapore. "In particular, the commitments would ensure an increase in capacity and frequency on flights between the Singapore–Frankfurt and Singapore–Zurich routes, and would lead to increased passenger numbers and tourists to Singapore, and accordingly benefit Singapore’s economy," CCS said. <br/>

ANA Holdings has invested in a new airline venture in Myanmar that aims to start international flights in 2018 as the Japanese carrier seeks to capture demand in Asia’s fastest-growing economy. ANA has a 49% stake and a local company holds the remainder, said Shinya Katanozaka, CEO of Japan’s largest airline. The companies made a combined initial investment of $150,000 in the venture, he said. The carrier is expanding abroad as more people take to the skies in developing economies such as Myanmar, which the International Monetary Fund forecasts will expand 8.1% this year, the quickest pace after Iraq. ANA is betting on international travel from the Southeast Asian nation after the carrier in 2014 cited intensified competition in Myanmar for its decision to cancel a plan to buy 49% of Asian Wings Airways Ltd., a domestic airline. “Myanmar’s economic power is growing,” said Katanozaka. “We want to help contribute to the boom in business and overseas holiday travel from the new middle class.” ANA, which bought a stake in Vietnam Airlines this year, is also considering adding flights across the globe, Katanozaka said. The Myanmar venture will start with a couple of airplanes and plans to increase the fleet, he said. ANA’s investment will rise as the venture adds aircraft, the CEO said. <br/>

Nearly 200 Singapore Airlines passengers who were stranded in Hokkaido for a couple of days due to heavy snow returned to Singapore on Monday. Flight SQ661 from Sapporo, capital city of Hokkaido, was originally scheduled to depart on Friday at 8.55am local time with 192 passengers and 12 crew but it was delayed because of poor weather. It was rescheduled to leave the next day but was further delayed as the runways at Chitose airport remained closed. Heavy snow over the weekend disrupted flight and train services throughout the region, with more than 240 flights cancelled at Chitose airport, reported Japanese media. Due to a shortage of hotel rooms, SIA said some of its passengers had to lay over at the airport terminal, adding that blankets, meal boxes and breakfast vouchers were issued to those affected. The passengers finally left Sapporo on SQ9661 on Sunday at 4.53pm (Singapore time) and arrived in Singapore at about 1am on Monday.<br/>