American Airlines founded the oneworld alliance with British Airways, Cathay Pacific, and Qantas in 1999. The alliance began operations on 1 February 1999.
The four airlines announced the alliance in 1998, seeking to connect their route networks, loyalty programs, lounges, and schedules without merging into one company. Their founding partnership linked major hubs in North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia.
Oneworld was the third major global airline alliance to launch, following Star Alliance in 1997 and SkyTeam in 2000. Alliance members remain separate airlines, but passengers can often earn and redeem loyalty points across partners and use coordinated connections on a single itinerary.
American Airlines' role as a founder is sometimes confused with its membership in other industry partnerships. American is a oneworld founding carrier, whereas United Airlines is a founding member of Star Alliance and Delta Air Lines helped establish SkyTeam.