Airline alliances redouble efforts to make multicarrier itineraries seamless
Star Alliance, Oneworld and SkyTeam -- the three global airline alliances -- are once again leaning into technology integrations for facilitating smooth, multi-airline journeys. Take, for example, Oneworld CEO Nat Pieper's comments during an interview last month: "We want a Oneworld multicarrier ticket to be as simple to orchestrate from a guest perspective as if they were flying the same itinerary on one carrier," he said. "It should be all facets of the journey, from the time you search that itinerary to check-in." He added: "Ultimately, as I get off the airplane, if I've got an issue with my bag and I'm on a British Airways-operated flight but I want to use the American Airlines app -- we want you to be able to use whatever app you want to." Ambitions such as these aren't new for the alliances. But as the three have reached something close to global coverage, facilitating seamless, multicarrier journeys has become a priority. And with air carriers around the globe now better positioned to dedicate resources to these integrations than they have been since pre-Covid times, the alliances are starting to achieve significant milestones. SkyTeam, which counts Delta, Air France, KLM and Korean among its 19 members, now facilitates seamless multi-airline itinerary check-in on 95% of the group's global volume, said CEO Patrick Roux. For example, a flyer whose one-way itinerary includes flights on Delta and Korean can check in for both flights via either carrier's app. "It's becoming a completed project. We're almost there," Roux said. "The ambition is to have all the touch points of the customer journey in place and to be the first one to provide it." Meanwhile, Star Alliance, which counts United, Lufthansa, Turkish and Singapore among its 26 members, has enabled cross-airline free seat selection on 83% of connecting bookings, said Luc Lachoix, Star's vice president of digital and technology. Star's goal is to bring that number to 90% by the end of the year. The alliance also projects it will facilitate multi-airline bag tracking on 60% of Star itineraries this year.<br/>
https://portal.staralliance.com/cms/news/hot-topics/2024-07-26/star/airline-alliances-redouble-efforts-to-make-multicarrier-itineraries-seamless
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Airline alliances redouble efforts to make multicarrier itineraries seamless
Star Alliance, Oneworld and SkyTeam -- the three global airline alliances -- are once again leaning into technology integrations for facilitating smooth, multi-airline journeys. Take, for example, Oneworld CEO Nat Pieper's comments during an interview last month: "We want a Oneworld multicarrier ticket to be as simple to orchestrate from a guest perspective as if they were flying the same itinerary on one carrier," he said. "It should be all facets of the journey, from the time you search that itinerary to check-in." He added: "Ultimately, as I get off the airplane, if I've got an issue with my bag and I'm on a British Airways-operated flight but I want to use the American Airlines app -- we want you to be able to use whatever app you want to." Ambitions such as these aren't new for the alliances. But as the three have reached something close to global coverage, facilitating seamless, multicarrier journeys has become a priority. And with air carriers around the globe now better positioned to dedicate resources to these integrations than they have been since pre-Covid times, the alliances are starting to achieve significant milestones. SkyTeam, which counts Delta, Air France, KLM and Korean among its 19 members, now facilitates seamless multi-airline itinerary check-in on 95% of the group's global volume, said CEO Patrick Roux. For example, a flyer whose one-way itinerary includes flights on Delta and Korean can check in for both flights via either carrier's app. "It's becoming a completed project. We're almost there," Roux said. "The ambition is to have all the touch points of the customer journey in place and to be the first one to provide it." Meanwhile, Star Alliance, which counts United, Lufthansa, Turkish and Singapore among its 26 members, has enabled cross-airline free seat selection on 83% of connecting bookings, said Luc Lachoix, Star's vice president of digital and technology. Star's goal is to bring that number to 90% by the end of the year. The alliance also projects it will facilitate multi-airline bag tracking on 60% of Star itineraries this year.<br/>
