October 24, 2009 is the last date that Continental Airlines will be a member of the SkyTeam alliance. This date was noted in today’s earnings conference call by CEO Larry Kellner. Kellner deftly sidestepped when pressed for a specific date that Continental would be joining Star Alliance, responding only with “promptly thereafter.” It is expected that the shift will not be immediate, but that specific bilateral agreements will be forged first with the formal alliance membership taking a bit longer to iron out thanks to all the gritty details and integration issues that will inevitably come up.
Ever since the announcement of their intention to switch back in June, there have been a lot of questions about the details and the timing of the change. At least we now have one date nailed down. I’m sure that more details will follow.
Some coverage here from the Houston Chronicle. And for those who are curious, October 25th is the last date of the summer schedule as organized by IATA, so it makes a lot of sense as the date that they make the jump.
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