What are airline alliances, and who’s in them?

If you are an even moderately frequent flyer, you have likely taken advantage of the perks that airline alliances offer passengers. And if you've flown at all in the past two decades, you have heard airplane staff members mention them in an onboard announcement: "Thank you for flying Air X, a member of the Y alliance."

An airline alliance is an arrangement between two or more airlines that allows them to share resources and expand their route networks. Alliances make connections easier as they allow customers to travel on multiple airlines within the alliance on a single itinerary. Mileage collecting and spending is also easier because you can earn and redeem on partner airlines within the alliance.

Three of them include more than 50 airlines globally: Star Alliance, SkyTeam and Oneworld, in order of size. Since their appearance in the late 1990s, they have been a welcome innovation for flyers who have elite status because the status gets recognized by all partner airlines. If you're a Delta Air Lines Medallion member, for example, you can get priority treatment from all other airlines that are members of SkyTeam.

Not everybody is a fan. While proponents say airline alliances help lower ticket costs, opponents say the opposite: Fares are higher due to reduced competition.

Pretty much every major airline is in an alliance, with relevant exceptions among the big global players being Emirates, Etihad Airways and Virgin Australia. Several large regional airlines also aren't in alliances. This is the case for Southwest Airlines, JetBlue and WestJet in North America; Ryanair and EasyJet in Europe; and Air Asia. Occasionally, there are shifts within alliances as new member airlines join or members move to a different alliance.

Codeshare flights and mutual collections of miles don't happen just between alliance members, though. Oftentimes, airlines outside alliances partner up with one another. For example, you can transfer American Express Membership Rewards points to the Etihad Guest program and use the resulting miles to book a flight on JetBlue.

Related: What are codeshare flights, and how do they work?

So, here's a list of which airlines are in which alliances. You'll notice that each of the "Big Three" U.S. legacy carriers was a founding member of each one.

Star Alliance

The first airline alliance was founded on May 14, 1997, when Air Canada, Lufthansa, Scandinavian Airlines, Thai Airways and United Airlines came together in a globe-spanning partnership. From its first day, Star Alliance served every inhabited continent, in a clear illustration of why alliances exist: You can travel pretty much everywhere on alliance carriers. If you are a frequent flyer, there's an alliance with a value proposition for you based on the perks of loyalty and seamless connections wherever you're based.

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The alliance experienced a shake-up in 2024 when founding member SAS exited Star Alliance to join SkyTeam. Star Alliance currently has 25 members, flying 727 million passengers annually. It's the biggest alliance by most metrics. It's also the only one with at least one full member from every inhabited continent. The members are:

• Aegean Airlines
• Air Canada
• Air China
• Air India
• Air New Zealand
• All Nippon Airways
• Asiana Airlines
• Austrian Airlines
• Avianca
• Brussels Airlines
• Copa Airlines
• Croatia Airlines
• Egyptair
• Ethiopian Airlines
• EVA Airways
• LOT Polish Airlines
• Lufthansa
• Shenzhen Airlines
• Singapore Airlines
• South African Airways
• Swiss
• TAP Air Portugal
• Thai Airways
• Turkish Airlines
• United Airlines

Related: Your guide to Star Alliance airlines, lounges and elite status

Like airlines in the other two alliances, Star Alliance members paint one or more of their planes in special alliance colors. It's become a tradition for alliance airlines. Those planes make coveted targets for aviation geeks with cameras, who collect images of as many special-color planes as possible.

SkyTeam

The newest alliance — founded in 2000 by Aeromexico, Air France, Delta Air Lines and Korean Air — has since grown to be the second largest by airline members and people carried on its planes.

SkyTeam has seen recent additions, with Virgin Atlantic joining in March 2023 and SAS in September 2024. It also saw one recent departure, with Czech Airlines exiting in October 2024. The alliance currently has 19 members (not counting suspended member Aeroflot). It's based on all continents except Australia, flying 624 million passengers a year. The member airlines are:

• Aerolineas Argentinas
• Aeromexico
• Air Europa
• Air France
• China Airlines
• China Eastern Airlines
• Delta Air Lines
• Garuda Indonesia
• ITA Airways
• Kenya Airways
• KLM
• Korean Air
• Middle East Airlines
• SAS
• Saudia
• TAROM
• Vietnam Airlines
• Virgin Atlantic
• Xiamen Airlines

Related: SkyTeam alliance guide: Member airlines, lounges and elite status

Like in the other alliances, its members paint some planes in alliance colors — but with a silver fuselage.

Oneworld

The second alliance to be formed, Oneworld was founded in 1999 by American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific and Qantas. It's the smallest, both in terms of member airlines and number of passengers flown, totaling more than 500 million annually.

The alliance currently has 13 members (not counting suspended member S7 Airlines) but will soon be adding two new members: Fiji Airways and Oman Air. Oneworld became the only alliance with two members in the U.S., the biggest aviation market in the world, when Alaska Airlines joined the alliance in 2021.

The Oneworld members are:

• Alaska Airlines
• American Airlines
• British Airways
• Cathay Pacific
• Finnair
• Iberia
• Japan Airlines
• Malaysia Airlines
• Qantas
• Qatar Airways
• Royal Air Maroc
• Royal Jordanian Airlines
• SriLankan Airlines

Related: Oneworld alliance guide: Learn about airlines, lounges and elite status

Oneworld members also paint some planes in alliance colors, but unlike the Star Alliance and SkyTeam liveries, there's no alliance logo on the tail.

Bottom line

Knowing which airline is in which alliance is a crucial step in understanding how to maximize both your mileage earnings and redemptions. For paid flights, you can fly on one airline but credit your miles to the airline within the alliance with the best redemption rates or the airline program where you already may have existing miles. For flight redemptions, you can redeem your miles in one airline's program to fly on another.

Related reading:

• Maximize your airfare: The best credit cards for booking flights
• 6 key tools and tips to find the cheapest airfare
• Maximize your points and miles earning: How to choose where to credit your next flight
• Redeem your points and miles: How to search flight award availability for the major airlines