In this article, Arthur D. Little's new report on Aviation Alliance Strategy is discussed. The report says that the alliance model has perhaps reached its high-water mark, paving the way for the continued emergence of a more multifaceted form of cooperative strategy in the future. Alliances were created in an era of "hypercompetition," the report says. Dozens of individual airlines competed individually before the advent of the Big Three in the late 1990s and creation of the transatlantic joint ventures that further cemented alliance structures. Those developments, along with mergers and more cooperative regulatory authorities, have dramatically changed the picture. In the future, the challenge is no longer hypercompetition but "hyperconsolidation." Intense consolidation will drive a far more dynamic form of alliance strategy. The focus will shift from the current airline-centric model to a broader concept of aviation alliance strategy that embraces multiple players across the value chain.

http://aviationweek.com/commercial-aviation/should-airline-alliances-redefine-their-model