Special Advertising Section - News on the Airline Alliance Frontier

Special Advertising Section

News on the Airline Alliance Frontier:

Airline alliances are enabling business travelers to earn frequent flyer miles on a multitude of airlines and put them to work on their primary carriers.

Since one airline can't possibly meet the diverse needs of today's global traveler, airline alliances are the next best thing. In most cases, airline alliances enable you to earn frequent flyer miles and put those miles toward elite status on your primary carrier when flying on an alliance airline. There often is reciprocity in the use of airport lounges and other on-the-ground services. Joint scheduling and facility coordination further enhances the life of the business traveler.

The bottom line is that frequent flyers want seamless travel experiences -- no matter where in the world their travels may take them -- and airlines are delivering. Star Alliance™ and oneworld™ are two of the more prominent alliances; however, new alliances continue to enter the scene. Following is an overview of some of the more recent additions to the airline alliance frontier.

Mexicana Plans to Become Newest Addition to Star Alliance
Mexicana Airlines, a major player in the Latin American market, plans to join Star Alliance next year. As the newest addition to Star Alliance, Mexicana would bring the number of carriers associated with this prominent airline alliance to ten.

Members of the Star Alliance network, which was created in May 1997, are Air Canada, Air New Zealand, Ansett Australia, Lufthansa, Scandinavian Airlines System (SAS), Thai Airways International, United Airlines, and Varig Brazilian Airlines. All Nippon Airways (ANA) of Japan plans to join Star Alliance this month. Founded in 1921, Mexicana Airlines has flights to 29 cities in Mexico, 11 in the United States, two in Canada, three in Central America, three in South America, and two in the Caribbean.

LanChile Becomes Newest Member of oneworld
Frequent flyers can expect to see Linea Aerea Nacional de Chile (LanChile) on the list of oneworld carriers with services and benefits beginning in 2000, after a formal training and integration process has been completed.

Currently, the oneworld team includes American Airlines, British Airways, Canadian Airlines, Cathay Pacific Airways and Qantas Airways. LanChile marks the eighth member of the global alliance -- and the third carrier to join since oneworld was announced in September 1998. Finnair and Iberia also recently came on board, and both of these carriers will begin providing oneworld services and benefits later in the year.

Formed in 1929, LanChile is a privately owned airline and currently operates 120 flights a day. It serves 17 points within Chile, and operates an international network with service to 22 points in 15 countries.

AeroMexico Joins Delta and Air France in Global Alliance
AeroMexico plans to team up with Delta Air Lines and Air France in forming an new global alliance. To be established early next year, the alliance is expected to consist of airline partners with route networks worldwide.

Plans for the global alliance will incorporate a network of codeshare routes, allowing passengers to travel or ship cargo to and from most locations. In addition, customers will be entitled to such services as single check-in, frequent flyer recognition and airport lounges across the network.

"We envision that all of the airlines in the group will provide the finest customer service. The three current carriers in the alliance already bring many benefits to the passengers," says AeroMexico Chairman Alfonso Pasquel.

AeroMexico and Delta now codeshare flights on more than 230 daily flights between 12 cities in Mexico and 23 destinations in the United States. AeroMexico and Air France codeshare daily between Paris and Mexico City. Passengers traveling on codeshare flights operated by any of the three carriers are eligible to earn frequent flyer miles through either Delta's SkyMiles, Air France's Frequence Plus or AeroMexico's Club Premier programs.

AeroMexico serves 43 cities in Mexico, 36 cities in the United States and six other countries in Europe and South America.

Alitalia Plans to Join Northwest/KLM Partnership
Alitalia Italian Airlines plans to join the Northwest/KLM transatlantic joint venture. As part of their agreement, Northwest, KLM and Alitalia are making a joint application to the U.S. Department of Transportation for immunity from the U.S.anti trust laws.
Subject to government approval, the three airlines will implement initiatives in various areas: pricing and inventory management; integration of the airlines' frequent flyer programs and design and development of information systems for yield management, reservations and other operational systems.
Alitalia serves 133 destinations in over 60 countries, offering a significant number of non-stop flights to Italy from the United States.

(A) Within the continental U.S. (48 states) and Canada where applicable; (B) From 48 U.S. states and Canada; (C) For short haul flights to/from the U.S. and Canada *Based on calendar year in which activity occurred **No expiration if member shows activity during the current 36-month period ***Or 8 roundtrips or 16 segment credit stamps.

* Awards listed reflect minimum mileage required for coach class and may be subject to seat limitations and/or blackout dates. Some award travel is offered via a partner. Most carriers allow unrestricted travel for double the mileage listed.

	Domestic Roundtrip(A)	Caribbean	Hawaii (B)	Europe (B)	Mileage Expiration
Air Canada	15,000(C)	40,000	40,000	60,000	None
Alaska	20,000	35,000	35,000	40,000	None
America West	20,000	35,000	45,000	60,000	None
American	25,000	30,000	35,000	40,000	36 months*
Canadian	15,000(C)	60,000	60,000	40,000	None
Continental	25,000	35,000	35,000	40,000	None
Delta	25,000	30,000	30,000	50,000	36 months**
Midwest Exp.	20,000	35,000	35,000	50,000	36 months**
Northwest	20,000	35,000	35,000	40,000	3 years
Southwest	16 0W segments ***	N/A	N/A	N/A	12 Months
TWA	20,000	30,000	40,000	35,000	None
United	25,000	35,000	35,000	50,000	36 months**
US Airways	20,000	35,000	35,000	40,000	None