AA is the sole American carrier in the OneWorld alliance

The OneWorld global airline alliance could find itself without a representative U.S. carrier if a takeover bid by Delta Air Lines for beleaguered American Airlines (AA) were to eventuate and be successful.

According to media reports, Delta, which is a member of SkyTeam, is amongst the potential buyers assessing bids for AA’s parent company, AMR Corporation, which also include private equity firm, TPG Capital and US Airways Group.   

“Clearly it would be quite negative for all the OneWorld alliance carriers because you’d assume American would be converted to SkyTeam, leaving Oneworld without a U.S. representative airline,” Macquarie analyst Russell Shaw told Deal Journal in Australia, whose flag carrier Qantas is a founding member of the alliance.

Similarly, a successful bid for AA by US Airways could see American Airlines converted to the world’s largest alliance, Star Alliance, of which US Airways is a member carrier.   

Meanwhile, AA has announced that it will be ending flights between Dallas and Burbank, CA on February 9, as well as flights between Chicago and New Delhi on March 1, leaving American Airlines without a presence on the Indian subcontinent.

In addition to closing operations at Burbank and New Delhi airports, AA said it would be separately cutting a further 150 jobs in February.

American Airlines and AMR Corporation, which filed for Chapter 11 protection on November 29, said the changes weren’t related to its bankruptcy but rather in response to market pressures to become more efficient.