Air India Entry To Star Delayed By Year
By Neelam Mathews 
Air India is now expected to join the Star Alliance in the first quarter of 2010, one year later than its scheduled plan for entry in March 2009.
While Star Alliance and Air India signed a non-disclosure agreement last year, the compliance is yet to be done. According to an airline official, the basic coordination between Air India and erstwhile Indian Airlines (now under the Air India banner) is proving to be a harrowing experience as “it is not clear who has to do what.”
Air India has been in the process of merging with Indian Airlines for the past 18 months and was expected to conclude the integration by the end of 2008 and join Star at about the same time.
The two airlines (Air India and Indian Airlines) have yet to integrate their different IT platforms under one common system. Also, AI has not yet confirmed to Star its decision on which IT platform it will be using.
A daily news report in Delhi suggests the Ministry of Civil Aviation is upset that talks are on with Jet Airways to join the alliance, as it would put Air India at a disadvantage. However, a Jet spokesman told The DAILY that while the carrier was evaluating various options, “over the years, Jet had taken a decision not to align itself with a specific alliance and go the way of code shares and independent alliances.”
But this could change, according to an analyst given the tough financial times the industry is going through.
Star, at the onset, had not ruled out other Indian partners. “India is so huge that one airline alone can’t handle it,” Swiss CEO Christoph Franz said. “We are seven members in Europe, and that’s not too many.”
Another senior official said, “Star aims to have around 50 airlines as part of its alliance. So it is not surprising that Jet was contacted. It is also likely other airlines will be in talks with Star for being its regional partners, like Croatia Air for instance.”
AI has since 2004 operated code-sharing flights with Lufthansa between Germany and India. Lufthansa was a sponsor for Air India in the joining process.
Photo: Arpingstone via Wikimedia
