Continental Airlines, the largest airline at Newark Liberty International Airport, has announced its plans to join Star Alliance. This plan was announced on 19 June. Continental was reportedly part of SkyTeam that includes Delta Air Lines, Northwest Airlines and Air France.

Continental Airlines reports that the change in alliances will allow Continental’s customers to benefit from the larger Star Alliance network, which has truly global coverage including 20 airlines.

In the future, after a transition period that we expect will last at least a year, OnePass members will start to have reciprocity for earning/redeeming miles on other Star Alliance airlines and the SkyTeam reciprocity will end. In addition, Continental’s Platinum Elite members traveling on international Star Alliance itineraries will have access to Star Alliance lounges at a future, yet-to-be-determined date. In the U.S., Continental intends to code-share with United Airlines, a primary member of the Star Alliance, and code-sharing with Delta and Northwest will be phased out.

According to NJ.com, United and Continental have been holding talks about areas of cooperation.

The Star Alliance will allow them to sell flights on each other’s computer systems as if they were one airline. Airlines can codeshare, which means they can sell flights even though the passengers are actually carried by another airline. The other global alliance is OneWorld, which includes American Airlines and British Airways.

Larry Kellner, the CEO of Continental Airlines, is quoted commenting on the company’s decision to realize this merge.

“In a network business, there is significant value gained from linking with larger networks to provide truly national coverage and expanded global reach, and exploring new ways to reduce costs and improve efficiencies,” Kellner said.

Photo:© Deanster1983

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