Mobissimo

In the face of rising fuel costs, mergers have been considered, but often ruled out because of complexity.  Alliance sharing/code sharing makes more sense, you can combine similar routes, fill planes, and keep all the legal out of it.  Continental will join the Star Alliance and notable members United and Lufthansa to keep operating costs in check.  Read more here via UK Reuters.

 NEW YORK (Reuters) - Continental Airlines Inc (CAL.N: Quote, Profile, Research) and UAL Corp's (UAUA.O: Quote, Profile, Research) United Airlines on Thursday announced a global cooperation plan, the latest move in the dance between major U.S. carriers as they weigh mergers and alliances to help combat soaring fuel prices.

Continental, which called off merger talks with United in April, according to sources briefed on the matter, also plans to join United in the Star Alliance system, a significant defection which redraws the battle lines between the major airline groups.