Chris Jasper/LONDON
The American Airlines/British Airways-led oneworld airline alliance has developed a plan that could see the merger of member carriers' frequent flier programmes (FFPs) under a standalone company.
Oneworld airlines have set up a project group to explore FFP options under the codename "Monaco". BA director of alliances John Patterson says the formation of a merged "conglomerate" of FFPs and a structure based on "regional schemes" is under consideration.
"'Merger' can mean a lot of things to different people and there are various ways of the schemes coming together," he says. "We want some sort of scheme to go worldwide rather than being down to individual airlines. But it is hard to resolve that given the intricacies of law and other arrangements."
Sources say the Monaco project is being spearheaded by American Airlines, and that a merger of its FPP with that of Canadian Airlines is a possible early move.
Source: Flight International
