No merger, but maybe a new Star partnership

Although Continental Airlines recently decided not to pursue a merger with United Airlines – the latter is now talking to US Airways instead – the Associated Press reported last week that Continental might nonetheless consider an alliance with United. But the wire service said that Continental is also still in discussions with British Airways and American about a possible alliance. Since Delta and Northwest announced their plans to merge, Continental has stated publicly that it might withdraw from the SkyTeam global alliance it now shares with those two airlines. AP quoted a Continental official as saying the airline is determined to be part of one of the three major alliances, and if not SkyTeam, that only leaves American and BA’s Oneworld or United’s Star Alliance. Meanwhile, the Chicago Tribune reported that United and US Airways are “closing in” on a firm merger deal, with the combined carrier to be based in Chicago. It said that a merged airline would likely be run by US Airways CEO Doug Parker and US Airways president Scott Kirby. The report added that if the two were to combine, they would probably eliminate some overlapping operations in the Washington D.C. area, where US Airways is the largest carrier at Reagan National and United dominates at Dulles. And the trade publication Air Transport World quoted Lufthansa CEO Wolfgang Mayrhuber as saying that his company – a major partner in the Star Alliance, along with United and US Airways – would have no problem with the two U.S. carriers merging.