The 8 Former Oneworld Members that Left the Alliance

The Oneworld alliance launched on 1 February 1999 – exactly 25 years ago – with five founding members: American Airlines, British Airways, Canadian Airlines, Cathay Pacific and Qantas.

As one of the three major global airline alliances, around 16 additional airlines have since joined Oneworld. Oman Air is also set to join later this year, RwandAir has expressed interest and Hawaiian Airlines could become a member by default after it merges with Alaska Airlines.

Meanwhile, Fiji Airways became the first Oneworld Connect member in 2018. MIAT Mongolian Airlines has signalled it wants to become a Oneworld Connect member as well.

But there are only 13 current Oneworld alliance members:

So, what happened to the rest?

In this article, we explore the fate of the eight former Oneworld member airlines that have since left the alliance – as well as the airline that announced it would join Oneworld but went bankrupt before it could even be initiated.

Canadian Airlines

Canadian Airlines is the only one of the five founding Oneworld member airlines that is no longer part of the alliance. It was also one of the shortest-serving Oneworld members, leaving the alliance in June 2000 – just over a year after joining.

Canadian Airlines left Oneworld after it was bought by Air Canada. In 2001, the airline officially merged with Air Canada – a member of Oneworld’s rival, Star Alliance.

Aer Lingus

Around the same time that Canadian Airlines exited Oneworld, Aer Lingus joined. The Irish national carrier would remain part of the Oneworld alliance until announcing it was leaving in 2006.

At the time, Oneworld gave the following reason for Aer Lingus’ decision to exit the alliance:

Aer Lingus’ strategy has changed fundamentally since it joined the alliance six years ago and is no longer convergent with oneworld’s. The alliance’s key target market is the multi-sector, premium, frequent international traveller, while Aer Lingus has repositioned itself as a low fares point-to-point carrier.

But media reports from the time indicate that Aer Lingus baulked at the cost that would be required to update its IT systems to accommodate three new Oneworld entrants that would join in 2007 – Japan Airlines, Royal Jordanian and Malév Hungarian Airlines. Apparently, Aer Lingus believed the cost of the required IT upgrades would be more than the additional revenue generated.

Aer Lingus still works closely with several Oneworld airlines, including British Airways, although the Irish carrier cut ties with Qantas and Cathay Pacific in 2019.

Since 2015, Aer Lingus has been owned by International Airlines Group (IAG). IAG also owns Oneworld members British Airways and Iberia, along with Spanish low-cost carrier Vueling.

There has been some speculation that Aer Lingus may seek to rejoin the Oneworld alliance at some stage in the future. Even if it doesn’t want to take on the costs associated with becoming a full member, Aer Lingus would probably make a good Oneworld Connect candidate.

Mexicana

The oldest airline in Mexico with a history dating back to 1921, Mexicana was another short-lived Oneworld member.

It joined the alliance in November 2009, along with its regional affiliates MexicanaClick and MexicanaLink. Less than a year later, Mexicana filed for bankruptcy and eventually collapsed.

MALÉV Hungarian Airlines

Hungary’s former national carrier joined Oneworld in 2007, shortly after it was privatised. The airline was renationalised in 2010, but in early 2012 the European Union ordered MALÉV to repay state aid that the EU claimed was received illegally. The airline could not repay its debts and ceased operations soon after.

airberlin

Once Germany’s second-largest airline, airberlin was a Oneworld member from 2012 until it went bankrupt in 2017.

Airberlin’s Oneworld membership created some interesting opportunities for Australian frequent flyers because the airline was also a partner airline of Virgin Australia. So, if you held Airberlin Topbonus status, you could receive benefits with both Qantas and Virgin Australia.

Qatar Airways is another contemporary example of an airline that partners with both Virgin Australia and Qantas (the latter through its Oneworld membership), although there have been some well-known issues with the relationship between Qatar Airways and Qantas.

LATAM Airlines (formerly LanChile and TAM)

LanChile was an early entrant to the Oneworld alliance, joining in 2000. Brazilian airline TAM also switched over from Star Alliance to Oneworld as part of its merger with LAN in 2014. The two airlines later merged to become the present-day LATAM Airlines.

The combined LATAM Airlines remained part of the Oneworld alliance until 2020. It left after announcing an extensive new partnership with Delta Air Lines, a member of the SkyTeam alliance. There had been some speculation at the time that LATAM could join SkyTeam after leaving Oneworld, but so far this has not happened and LATAM Airlines is not currently part of any alliance.

The exit of LATAM Airlines from Oneworld has left a huge gap in Oneworld’s South American coverage.

S7 Airlines

Russian airline S7 joined the Oneworld alliance in 2010. It is technically still a member, but the airline’s alliance membership is “temporarily suspended” due to the war in Ukraine and Russian sanctions. It’s not yet clear whether the airline will ever resume being a member, but the S7 logo has been removed from all Oneworld marketing.

Honourable mention: Kingfisher Airlines

In February 2010, India’s Kingfisher Airlines announced it would join the Oneworld alliance during 2011. But things didn’t quite go to plan, with the airline encountering financial trouble before it could be inaugurated.

The airline’s plans to enter Oneworld were put on hold in early 2012. The airline went out of business shortly after, having never actually joined the alliance.

Matt Graham

The editor of Australian Frequent Flyer, Matt's passion for travel has taken him to over 70 countries… with the help of frequent flyer points, of course!
Matt's favourite destinations (so far) are Germany, Brazil & Kazakhstan. His interests include economics, aviation & foreign languages, and he has a soft spot for good food and red wine.

You can connect with Matt by posting on the Australian Frequent Flyer community forum and tagging @AFF Editor.