"Alliances are here to stay", was the simple statement of Jan Albrecht, the chief executive of the Star Alliance, speaking at its 10th birthday celebration on Monday 14th May in Copenhagen.
In fact it was 10 years to the day that the then heads of Air Canada, Lufthansa, SAS, Thai Airways and United Airlines got their heads together to create Star. It was the first airline alliance, followed in short order by oneworld and SkyTeam.
Host and new chief executive Mats Jansson of SAS introduced proceedings at a slick ceremony. Alliances are the "best alternative to full consolidation", he said, with mergers at best complicated to achieve. They are a "free form of co-operation without any legal strings," he added.
In the next 10 months Star's membership will grow to 20 members, said Jansson, with Air China, Shanghai Airlines and Turkish Airlines all joining.
But the double act of Jan Stenberg and Juergen Weber, the CEOs of SAS and Lufthansa when Star was created, stole the early proceedings. They were rolled out by Star to share in some sharp banter and a look back over 10 years of the alliance with CNN presenter Richard Quest.
CNN's gravel-voiced link man wanted to know what had surprised the former CEOs about Star's development. For Weber it was how well the alliance concept was accepted by customers and how well his own staff bought into the idea. "Things worked better than we expected," he said. Another surprise "was how fast we were copied".
Stenberg agreed: "Immediately Star attracted weight in the industry other airlines were quick to join us." Then the race was on among all three alliances to tie the great and the good to the cause.
A question always asked of alliances is whether they are truly worthwhile. The industry veterans are in no doubt. "Perhaps more airlines would have gone bankrupt if alliances had not happened," said Stenberg. "They are an easy way to improve product quality and to improve your balance sheet."
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