Star Alliance plans more flexible structure
Tuesday June 9, 2009
The Star Alliance board today is expected to approve changes to its organizational structure that will see elimination of the regional member category, CEO Jaan Albrecht confirmed Monday at the IATA annual general meeting in Kuala Lumpur.
Currently there are three regional members: Adria Airways, Blue1 and Croatia Airlines. It is expected that all will become full members in the alliance.
At the same time, Star will introduce a menu-driven or a la carte membership concept. The new approach, informally described as "Rights, Responsibilities and Contributions," means that members, after fulfilling certain mandatory requirements such as IT integration, can choose their level of participation in the alliance. Carriers with more resources will be able to do more while those with limited resources may do less after fulfilling minimum membership standards.
Additionally under the revised structure, Star is limiting the number of items requiring a unanimous vote among the membership. The idea is to encourage those airlines that want to take on a more integrated role to do so while ensuring that the customer sees a single alliance without formalized categories of membership. Result should be a more flexible working arrangement for all members and the alliance as a whole, Albrecht said.
ATWOnline
Tuesday June 9, 2009
The Star Alliance board today is expected to approve changes to its organizational structure that will see elimination of the regional member category, CEO Jaan Albrecht confirmed Monday at the IATA annual general meeting in Kuala Lumpur.
Currently there are three regional members: Adria Airways, Blue1 and Croatia Airlines. It is expected that all will become full members in the alliance.
At the same time, Star will introduce a menu-driven or a la carte membership concept. The new approach, informally described as "Rights, Responsibilities and Contributions," means that members, after fulfilling certain mandatory requirements such as IT integration, can choose their level of participation in the alliance. Carriers with more resources will be able to do more while those with limited resources may do less after fulfilling minimum membership standards.
Additionally under the revised structure, Star is limiting the number of items requiring a unanimous vote among the membership. The idea is to encourage those airlines that want to take on a more integrated role to do so while ensuring that the customer sees a single alliance without formalized categories of membership. Result should be a more flexible working arrangement for all members and the alliance as a whole, Albrecht said.
ATWOnline