A United Airlines' (UAL) executive has been appointed to head the global Star Alliance grouping, marking a subtle shift in the industry's balance of power toward U.S. carriers.

Mark Schwab, United's senior vice president for alliances, was named chief executive of the 28-member Star, the largest of three global pacts formed to coordinate marketing and route networks.

Schwab replaces Jaan Albrecht at Star, which like the rival Oneworld and SkyTeam groupings, has tended to be led by European airline executives.

Albrecht moved to become head of Austrian Airlines, which is controlled by Deutsche Lufthansa AG (DLA.XE), a leading member of Star alongside United Continental Holdings Inc. (UAL) and All Nippon Airways Co. (9202.TO, ALNPY).

The recent granting of a single operating certificate for United Continental makes it the world's largest airline by capacity, lifting it above SkyTeam member Delta Air Lines Inc. (DAL). American Airlines' parent AMR Corp. (AMR), a member of the Oneworld grouping, ranks third.

"This appointment follows a worldwide search resulting in the comfortable situation of having several high calibre candidates to choose from. Mark convinced us with his vast industry know-how and his tremendous international experience," said Rob Fyfe, chief executive of Air New Zealand Ltd. (AIR.NZ) and chairman of the alliance's chief executive board. Schwab's appointment continues leadership changes among the global alliances in the past year. Bruce Ashby became CEO of New York-based Oneworld last December, and Michael Wisbrun took charge of Amsterdam-based SkyTeam in June.

The three groupings are still actively courting new members despite accounting for the majority of international airline traffic, with all eyeing potential partners in Latin America, India, China and Russia.

-By Doug Cameron and Mia Lamar, Dow Jones Newswires; 312-750-4135; doug.cameron@dowjones.com

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