<\/p>\n
It\u2019s been a rough year for Star Alliance membership. It lost SAS to SkyTeam and now it\u2019s set to lose Asiana after its merger with Korean Air was approved.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But it\u2019s still the largest airline alliance in the industry, ahead of SkyTeam and Oneworld. Star Alliance members include United Airlines, Air Canada, Lufthansa and Turkish Airlines.<\/p>\n
Skift spoke with Star Alliance CEO Theo Panagiotoulias about the alliance\u2019s growth plans and strategy for 2025. Here are four takeaways from our interview.<\/p>\n
For Panagiotoulias his biggest priority as Star Alliance\u2019s chief executive was continuing to improve the customer experience from booking to stepping foot on a plane.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are so many pain points on journeys for travelers where we see it as an opportunity to leverage the fast pacing, evolving technology to make life easier for customers,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Panagiotoulias said he breaks down the customer experience into four pillars: bookings, airport, connections and loyalty. To make the flying process more seamless across member airlines, Panagiotoulias said Star Alliance recently started trialing pre-seating assignments.\u00a0<\/p>\n
These assignments allow passengers to use one Star Alliance member\u2019s app to pick their seating for flights on a different member carrier. Typically, when customers are booking flights on another member airline in an alliance, they would have to pick their seats on that airline\u2019s app or website.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat we\u2019re trying to achieve here is to make the interline experience as online as possible,\u201d Panagiotoulias said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Star Alliance has opened quite a few lounges in recent years, with the latest in Guangzhou, China \u2014 its first lounge in Asia.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cGuangzhou is an important market that\u2019s served by several Star Alliance carriers, and it\u2019s a win-win for all carriers where it\u2019s not necessarily viable for individual carriers to go and open a lounge in that type of market,\u201d Panagiotoulias said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Panagiotoulias said the alliance has received \u201cpositive\u201d feedback on its lounges, which are also found in cities like Paris, Buenos Aires, Los Angeles and Amsterdam. He added that when Star Alliance opened its lounge in Paris last year, it invested 8 million euros into the space.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Panagiotoulias said the alliance doesn\u2019t have any future lounges planned at the moment, but it\u2019s \u201calways looking for opportunities to continue building out the portfolio.\u201d<\/p>\n
While Star Alliance is the world\u2019s largest airline alliance, it is still geographically underrepresented in certain areas, namely, the U.K., Australia and the Gulf.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Panagiotoulias didn\u2019t say whether Star Alliance is seeking to court any new carriers, but he did say that member airlines currently cover 90% of the globe.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He did say that the alliance was waiting on further guidance from Lufthansa on ITA\u2019s membership. Recently, European regulators granted Lufthansa permission to acquire a majority stake in the airline.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Star Alliance also lost SAS and Asiana this year due to restructuring and industry consolidation. But Panagiotoulias said the alliance already has a loyal customer base in Scandinavia and South Korea.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe feel very comfortable with where we\u2019re positioned,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
It is currently unclear how the outcome of the U.S. presidential election will impact the industry\u2019s commitments to climate change. President-elect Donald Trump has previously expressed interest in scrapping the tax credits for sustainable aviation fuel outlined in the Inflation Reduction Act.\u00a0<\/p>\n
SAF has already faced some difficulties with scaling and production. Some airline executives have even said they believe sustainable flying is a fruitless endeavor.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But Panagiotoulias said that member carriers\u2019 commitments to IATA\u2019s net zero emissions by 2050 goal will not change.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll our member carriers collectively have committed to the 2015 net zero objective,\u201d he said. \u201cThat will not change.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
What am I looking at?<\/strong>\u00a0The performance of airline sector stocks within the\u00a0ST200. The index includes companies publicly traded across global markets including network carriers, low-cost carriers, and other related companies.<\/p>\n