Collaborative strategy: an analysis of the changing world of international airline alliances

The notion of companies collaborating for their mutual benefit through the formation of strategic alliances has gained credibility in recent years and international airlines have been very active in utilising this form of strategic development. This paper explores the available literature on alliances, explores the underlying motivations for their formation and presents a conceptualisation of the stages involved from their inception to the measurement of success or failure. The paper concludes that the benefits on the part of the airlines appear clear but the potential benefits to be derived by consumers are less obvious. Nevertheless, given the regulatory and legal constraints preventing other forms of development airline alliances, it is argued, are not a transitory feature of the international airline industry but long-term inter-organisational forms and key future trends in their development are presented. (C) 2001 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd.