Oneworld alliance celebrates 25 years of excellence and outlines enhanced customer focus

As oneworld®, the premier global airline alliance, celebrates its 25th anniversary, oneworld’s Chairman, its member airline CEOs and the alliance’s new CEO praised oneworld’s incredible growth and increasing customer relevance at a press briefing this morning during the IATA AGM in Dubai.

Today, oneworld is a strong global alliance of thirteen leading airlines, including Alaska Airlines, American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific Airways, Finnair, Iberia, Japan Airlines, Malaysia Airlines, Qantas, Qatar Airways, Royal Air Maroc, Royal Jordanian and SriLankan Airlines. Founded in 1999 by American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, and Qantas, oneworld will triple in size by 2025, expanding from the original four founding members to fifteen in the next twelve months, with Oman Air and Fiji Airways joining the alliance as full members.

Since its inception, oneworld has been a trailblazer in the aviation industry, consistently raising the bar in customer service and connectivity. Together, oneworld airlines operate over 4.5 million flights, carrying more than 500 million passengers annually, including a staggering 212 million loyalty programmes’ members. With a combined fleet of over 3,400 aircraft and 13,000 daily flights, oneworld member airlines have united customers, countries, and businesses across the globe. More than nine billion passengers have flown with oneworld member airlines since its inception – a phenomenal number, highlighting its status as the world’s leading airline alliance.

Robert Isom, oneworld Chairman and American Airlines CEO, reflected on the alliance’s journey: “I’m proud to mark the creation of the oneworld alliance. Since its inception 25 years ago, the alliance has raised the bar in customer service and forged a common bond between the world’s leading airlines. We have never wavered in our commitment to enhance the customer experience every day, on every flight.”

With oneworld celebrating its 25th anniversary, the primary focus of new alliance CEO Nat Pieper is enhancement of all aspects of the guest travel experience, including an ambitious premium lounge strategy, an alliance-wide oneworld upgrade programme, and deeper more personalised digital capabilities.

Pieper said: “Our priority is to consistently deliver an exceptional travel experience, a best-in-class journey every step of the way. oneworld’s success over the past 25 years is due to the quality relationships between our member airlines and their constant prioritisation of guest satisfaction.

“I am honoured to serve as CEO of the world’s leading airline alliance, and I look forward to forging ever closer relationships between our terrific partners.”

oneworld broke new ground earlier this year by opening its first ever branded premium lounges in Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport, The Netherlands and at Incheon International, Seoul in South Korea.

Over 45,000 guests have already experienced the new oneworld premium offering, launched in partnership with global aviation ground services provider Swissport and the team behind its ASPIRE Airport Lounges. The alliance will continue to ambitiously pursue future opportunities to expand its current network of nearly 700 lounges.

In another landmark development, in March this year, oneworld launched its highly anticipated oneworld upgrade programme which provides a new, valuable way for the alliance’s frequent flyers to use their miles and points to upgrade across oneworld member airlines.

The first phase, launched by American Airlines and Qantas, enabled AAdvantage® customers to use their miles for upgrades on Qantas-operated flights. The reciprocal offering for Qantas Frequent Flyers to use their Qantas Points for upgrades on American Airlines operated flights is already in development and will be enabled in the coming months.

More oneworld member airlines will join the oneworld upgrade programme later this year, making it an important and much desired development for millions of oneworld loyal customers. oneworld will also continue to pioneer its digital transformation to elevate the personalised guest experience, providing customers with self-servicing tools to manage their journey. oneworld is committed to supporting implementation of new technology connections between member airlines to facilitate improved journeys across the entire alliance network.

As oneworld enters its next 25 years, it remains dedicated to enhancing every aspect of the customer journey, reaffirming its position as the world’s leading airline alliance. The future of air travel is here, and it’s brighter than ever with oneworld.