What are the 3 airline alliances?

There are three major airline alliances: SkyTeam, Star Alliance and Oneworld. Each has different partner airlines. You may have benefitted from an alliance without even realizing it.



The global aviation landscape in 2026 is dominated by three primary alliances: Star Alliance, SkyTeam, and Oneworld. Star Alliance is the largest and oldest (founded in 1997), featuring 25+ members including United, Lufthansa, and Singapore Airlines. SkyTeam is the second largest, anchored by Delta, Air France-KLM, and Korean Air; it notably added Virgin Atlantic and SAS recently. Oneworld is the smallest of the three but includes heavy hitters like American Airlines, British Airways, and Qantas. These alliances allow passengers to earn and redeem miles across partner airlines, access global lounge networks, and enjoy seamless baggage transfers on connecting flights. In 2026, these groups are the "backbone" of international travel, ensuring that a single ticket can take you across multiple carriers with a consistent set of elite benefits, though some major airlines like Emirates and Etihad still choose to remain independent "lone wolves."

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Everything You Need to Know About Star Alliance, the World's Largest Airline Alliance. Here's everything frequent fliers should know about the Star Alliance, including member airlines, benefits, and more.

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As a founding member of the SkyTeam alliance, Delta Air Lines has a well-connected route network with other airlines around the globe, allowing Delta loyalists to earn and redeem Delta miles even when flying with other airlines that aren't actually Delta.

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Star Alliance Named World's Best Airline Alliance at the Skytrax 2023 World Airline Awards. 13 member airlines claim a total of 35 top honours, including Singapore Airlines as World's Best Airline 2023.

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Southwest Airlines does not belong to an airline alliance, nor does it partner with any other airlines independently, so your Rapid Rewards points cannot take you to places such as Europe or Asia when used directly for flights.

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JetBlue is not part of Oneworld alliance, but its recent partnership establishment with American Airlines means that flyers on either airline can earn points with either airline's loyalty program.

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Proud Member of the Star Alliance Network. United Airlines.

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The big four US airlines - American Airlines, Southwest Airlines, Delta Airlines and United Airlines - have by far the most capacity, accounting for 74% of US airline seats, a total of just under 73 million between them.

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As the data shows, SkyWest Airlines has the largest fleet and the largest number of pilots, domiciles, and destinations of any U.S. regional airline . SkyWest is also the only regional airline to partner with all four major U.S. airlines (United, Delta, American, and Alaska).

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The biggest alliance is Star Alliance, which has 28 member airlines such as United, Lufthansa, and Air Canada. The second biggest is SkyTeam, which has 19 members including Delta, KLM, and Air France. The third biggest alliance is Oneworld, which has 13 members including American Airlines, British Airways, and Qantas.

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Lack of airline partners. Southwest Airlines does not belong to an airline alliance, nor does it partner with any other airlines independently, so your Rapid Rewards points cannot take you to places such as Europe or Asia when used directly for flights.

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You can redeem your miles for an award ticket of any member airline — subject to availability — irrespective of the frequent flyer programme with which you earned them.

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Members of SkyTeam include Aerolíneas Argentinas, Aeroméxico, Air Europa, Air France, China Airlines, China Eastern Airlines, Czech Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Garuda Indonesia, ITA Airways, Kenya Airways, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, Korean Air, Middle East Airlines, Saudia, TAROM, Vietnam Airlines, Virgin Atlantic, and ...

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On April 15, 2008, Delta Air Lines and Northwest Airlines announced a merger agreement. The merger of the two carriers formed what was then the largest commercial airline in the world, with 786 aircraft. The Delta Air Lines brand was retained, while Northwest's brand officially ended in 2010.

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