Rumour: Etihad looking at joining *A (yet again)

[HS-TQE]

On the back of the rumours of a EY/UA Joint Venture/Partnership, I personally can't see EY joining *A in the short term.

Current Indian based *A member, AI will NOT let EY's stake in major rival 9W go past the keeper, and will not hesitate using their veto until EY sells their stake in 9W.

SQ also sees EY as a 'rival' for the "Kangaroo Route" traffic and according to various blogs may also use their veto as well. Perhaps a very very slim chance of SQ negotiating to pick up EY's VA stake "on the cheap"? before they let EY join?

In other words, for EY to join *A, they will need to sell their stakes in 9W and VA.

If You Plan on Redeeming AAdvantage Miles on Etihad, Do It Now

 

[williamsf1]

David reported this in AUG last year

Etihad is reportedly open to joining Star Alliance

EY has a huge restructure internally and they are bleeding $$$$ daily ..... if they were to join an alliance it would probably be a while, it is not cheap to do so and would take a massive change in internal systems to support.. money they do not have at this stage..

 

[CPMaverick]

If this happens expect it to be a slow process. Lots of small partnerships with *A airlines first. There is a ton of red tape to unwind, and executives to pacify, before Etihad is compatible with *A.