Air India had applied for membership to Star Alliance in 2007 and was expected to join the 27-airline consortium by August this year.
The civil aviation ministry has decided to take on Star Alliance over its decision to suspend Air India's inclusion in its fold. Air India had applied for membership to the Star Alliance in 2007 and was expected to join the elite 27-airline consortium by August this year.
Star Alliance on Monday announced after a board meeting on Sunday that it was “suspending” the national carrier’s integration into its network. It said Air India had not fulfilled the criteria it had agreed to.
However, civil aviation ministry officials said they were preparing a sternly worded communication to Star Alliance, saying the decision did not reflect the ground reality and the airline had met all the 87 criteria for joining the alliance.
The officials said Air India had got the clearance on this issue from Star Alliance’s chief project manager on July 30, a day before the deadline to meet the minimum criteria.
A top source involved in the discussions for the alliance said, “The decision is unexpected and disappointing. Even on the 30th of last month, Star Alliance gave us the clearance that we had met the criteria and the ones left would be considered only after the alliance started.”
The source said the airline had also implemented the Star Alliance Upgrade Award (SAUA), which had been executed by only 19 of the 27 alliance members.
The decision has come as a setback to the ailing airline as joining the alliance would have given it a boost in the international market. It would have been able to provide seamless connectivity to its international passengers. A senior ministry official said Star Alliance officials had a meeting with Air India and ministry representatives on July 18, in which they asked the government to also give Jet Airways the clearance to join the alliance. “Jet has to take permission from the ministry and the Air India issue is separate from that,” said a ministry official.
A Star Alliance spokesperson admitted they were open to having two airlines as members from one country. “We have always, in public and in conversations with the Indian government, made it very clear that we believe that due to the importance of the Indian market, it requires more than one local carrier to satisfy the travel demand of the alliance customers. We have the same situation in China or in the United States.” However, it said confidentiality clauses prevented it from discussing any more details. Jet Airways did not reply to an SMS on the issue.
The criteria that Air India had to fulfil included a lounge access policy, a premier customer database, frequent flier agreements, Star Alliance gold booking and lounge exclusivity, among others. However, Star Alliance made it clear it was not the end of the road. “If both parties agree to resume the membership process at a future point in time, it can be done,” the spokesperson said.
An Air India spokesperson confirmed its membership had been put on hold but declined to comment further. The decision to suspend its integration with the alliance was taken "jointly" by 27 member airlines as the national carrier "had not met the minimum joining conditions that were contractually agreed in December 2007".
The integration had got delayed as the carrier did not have an integrated IT system between its erstwhile domestic operations and its international operations completed in February this year. Lufthansa was mandated to be the mentor airline for Air India in the alliance.
Formed in 1997, Star Alliance is a consortium of 27 airlines, including Lufthansa, Air Canada, Singapore Airlines, Thai Airways and Swiss. Together, its members have more than 4,000 aircraft that connect 1,160 airports in 181 countries through more than 21,200 daily flights.
