Jacques Alonso: All you have to do is look at the world map. Look at our network: in Asia we have JAL in the centre, then Cathay Pacific and its subsidiary Dragonair to the south, and Qantas a little further afield. All three airlines serve America, where you have the monster American Airlines to the north, LAN Airlines to the south and soon Mexicana to fill the gap in the centre. In Europe: British Airways and Finnair in the north, Malev for Eastern Europe and Iberia for the south. The entry of Royal Jordanian has enabled us to fill a gap in the Middle East.<\/p>\n
This is the great strength of our alliance: we serve every continent, without stepping on each other's toes and without compromising service quality.<\/p>\n
J. A. : Through electronic ticketing, for example. All the carriers are using electronic tickets, at all their ports of call, as soon as they join the alliance. The new members have to work hard to achieve this, because even if the technology allows us to offer the same service everywhere, nothing happens by itself.<\/p>\n
J. A. : Of course. The total expenditure budget for all the Oneworld companies is 90 billion. If we only make 1 % in savings, that's already colossal. We are making savings in purchasing, for fuel, for example. But not everyone is the same size or has the same needs, and there are areas where group purchasing remains difficult to organise, such as the fleet.<\/p>\n
J. A. : Consolidation is taking place where it is technically and sustainably possible, such as in Madrid or Tokyo. At Roissy airport, Malev, Finnair and Iberia serve the Schengen zone from 2D, a long way from 2A, which ADP is planning to turn into the Oneworld terminal. These are delicate matters: consolidation is not something that can be decided in two days, and you can't restructure for two years. The same goes for lounges: it is out of the question that, on the pretext of consolidation, we offer a product where people will be standing and crowded.<\/p>\n
J. A. : What hasn't been easy is to establish the idea that we need to think in terms of 'alliance' and not just 'airline'. In each country, there is still a great deal of emotional attachment to 'their' airline and a huge expectation of pride on the part of the staff. But the message needs to be repeated: \"from now on, you are proud of your alliance\". All things considered, it's a bit like what happened with the construction of Europe. And as always in this case, you'll find people who prefer to preach for their original chapel...<\/p>\n
Jacques Alonso, 57, is a graduate of the \u00c9cole sup\u00e9rieure de commerce de Toulouse (1972).<\/p>\n
1972-1979 Swissair France.<\/p>\n
1979-1980 Braniff Airways, commercial attach\u00e9<\/p>\n
1980-1982 Aerolineas Argentinas, Team Manager<\/p>\n
1982-1985 El Condor, tour operator specialising in Latin America, Sales Director<\/p>\n
Since 1985 American Airlines as Sales Director France, then Sales Director France and Belgium in 2004.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Japan Airlines, Malev, Royal Jordanian: you added three new members in 2007. What criteria do you use to select new partners? Jacques Alonso: All you have to do is look at the world map. Look at our network: in Asia we have JAL in the centre, then Cathay Pacific and its subsidiary Dragonair to the south, and Qantas a little further afield. [...]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8471,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[1017],"type-darticle":[51],"n_magazine":[],"class_list":["post-8469","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-non-classe","tag-decideur","type-darticle-interview","vapo-free"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n