Those that 'dance alone': the (very rare) companies that are not part of any international alliance

"Carsten Spohr (the CEO of Lufthansa Group, ed.) came here in person to ask me to join Star Alliance. But I told him that it would not happen. Why, in fact, 'tie' my hands with the companies of a single alliance, when by staying out of it I can make codeshare agreements with anyone I want?" So spoke, about a year ago during an interview with yours truly in Johannesburg, the founder and then Chief Executive Officer (now non-executive director) of Airlink, Rodger Foster.

Airlink is South Africa's largest airline and among the largest in all of Africa in terms of flights operated weekly and seat offerings. It remains, however, a, albeit important, regional entity since it has only narrow-body aircraft that fly no farther than Nairobi, Kenya.

However, there are vectors with much larger fleets than Airlink or otherwise with intercontinental networks, who made a similar choice to the South African company and have decided to 'dance on their own' outside international alliances, or that they have retraced their steps by deciding to leave them.

To date, the three major alliances Star Alliance, Skyteam and Oneworld gather a total of 58 'full members'. In front of everyone is Star with 25 members (waiting for ITA Airways join in 2026), ahead of Skyteam with 18 and Oneworld with 15. Oceania is the only continent where all the 'major players' are part of an alliance. On other continents this is not the case.

In North America there are two companies that 'dance alone': these are Canada's Westjet and America's Jetblue.

The former recently made headlines because Delta Airlines, Korean Air, and Air France/KLM acquired 25% of the shares. The buyers are all part of Skyteam, which would suggest Westjet's later entry into the alliance, but no such announcement accompanied the transaction. WestJet has an all-Boeing fleet, with 737MGs and MAXs flying domestic as well as to the U.S., Caribbean, and Central America, while a handful of 787-9s fly connecting Canada with Europe and Asia.

JetBlue has now become one of the 'majors' in Stars and Stripes air transport, with its fleet of 284 Airbuses (A220, A320 and A321) and the collections made from the east coast of the U.S. to Europe with its A321LRs..

Crossing the equator is one of the two largest companies not affiliated with any alliance: it is Latam, the South American 'multinational of the skies' that with its Brazilian, Chilean, Ecuadorian and Peruvian 'subsidiaries' counts a whopping 363 airplanes with which it flies not only in Latin America but also to Oceania, North America, Europe and Africa. In March 2013, Latam had joined Oneworld, only to exit in May 2020, however following Delta Airlines' acquisition of 20% of its capital.

Crossing the Atlantic, Germany's Condor is the only 'heavyweight' company in the Old Continent that is not part of any alliance. For decades a 'leisure' carrier, in more recent times it has changed in nature, increasing and modernizing its long-haul fleet with the arrival of 18 Airbus A330-900s and implementing a true feeder system in direct competition with Lufthansa at Frankfurt Airport.

Moving southeast and stopping on the western shores of the Mediterranean is the base of operations of El Al. Israeli carrier 'dances alone' for reasons largely different from others and more related to security aspects, than operational and financial. Indeed, the time-consuming inspection procedures at its Tel Aviv hub make it an unattractive partner for other carriers, on a par with the 'difficult conditions' environment in which it operates, sometimes leading to the closure of the airport and the cancellation of its flights.

If you then cross the Arabian Peninsula, you arrive on the shores of the Persian Gulf, where they reside Kuwait Airways and Gulf Air.

The former is known to be one of the few 'dry airlines' in the world, i.e., one of those companies that does not serve alcohol of any kind aboard their aircraft. It has a fleet of Boeing 777-300ER (with First Class) and Airbus A330-800 and -900 for long haul and A320 and A321 for short and medium haul and connects Kuwait City with Asia, Europe, Africa and North America.

Gulf Air, once (from 1974 until 1985, when the Emirates were the first to 'go it alone' by starting Emirates) a 'supranational company of all the Gulf countries (Bahrain, Qatar, UAE, and Oman), is today based in Bahrain, from where it flies to Asia, Africa, Europe and North America with a fleet of Airbus A320s, A321s and Boeing 787-9s.

Just Emirates (along with his 'squire' Flydubai) has so far decided to maintain its 'independence', on a par with the other Emirati airline, Etihad Airways. The latter was briefly accosted by Skyteam when it entered Alitalia's capital, but eventually went on to follow the same path as its Dubai cousin. Of the three Gulf 'biggies,' therefore, the only one to make the move was Qatar Airways, which has been inside Oneworld since October 2013.

Staying in Asia but moving a little further north and toward the center is. Air Astana, Kazakhstan's national carrier which uses the two stopovers in Astana and Almaty as hubs between Europe and the Far East. Three Boeing 767-300ERs are the only wide-body aircraft in the fleet, but 11 Airbus A321LRs with lie-flat seats in Business do the job well on most long-haul routes, awaiting the arrival of Dreamliners.

Overlooking the shores of the Pacific Ocean, more specifically. In Guangzhou, the operational base of China Southern Airlines is located., One of the three Chinese 'biggies' (along with Air China and China Eastern), which with a fleet of as many as 698 airplanes, it is also the fifth largest airline in the world. Its network extends to Asia, Europe, Africa, Oceania and North America. Between November 2007 and December 2018, he was a member of Skyteam.

Further south and still further east you come to Manila, the 'home' of Philippine Airlines which operates a fleet of Airbus A320s, A321s, and A330s on domestic and regional routes, alongside Boeing 777-300ERs and A350-900s flying to Oceania and North America.

The most recent trend is toward a new expansion of international alliances, as evidenced by the memberships that have taken place over the past twenty-four months of Virgin Atlantic in Skyteam and Oman Air and Fiji Airways in Oneworld (with Taiwan's Starlux also about to join).

Other companies, however, have changed fields or are in the process of doing so: SAS from Star to Skyteam in 2024 and ITA Airways from Skyteam to Star in the coming year. We will see if any of those 'dancing alone' will take the plunge (or, in the case of Latam and China Southern to do it again).