In the foreseeable future the alliance will become an increasingly important feature of the airline industry around the world. Despite its growing importance to airline management, aviation policy makers, and research literature, there has not been much rigorous analysis of airline alliances in economics or management literature. It is clear that the authors of this book are among the first researchers to do serious analytical studies and quantitative analysis on airline alliances. Given the growing importance of alliances, there is a clear need for a book that gives a comprehensive and analytical treatment of key aspects of airline alliances. In this book, they accomplish just that. This book presents the past history and current status of airline alliances, reasons why alliances are being formed, analyzes the questions: 'why are alliances likely to remain a key fixture of the airline industry in the foreseeable future? And 'what implications do alliances have on carrier management and public policy makers'? And quantifies the key economics effects of airline alliances.