After Star Alliance suspended Air India's membership process, top officials of competing global airline grouping SkyTeam held talks with Civil Aviation Ministry officials to "explore possibilities". The delegation, led by its Managing Director Michael Wisbrun, met Civil Aviation Secretary Nasim Zaidi on Friday and "explored possibilities" in the aftermath of Air India's suspension by the international airlines association Star Alliance, official sources said as per a PTI report.

During the meeting, the SkyTeam delegation was briefed about the situation arising out of the Star Alliance decision on July 31, they said. The government had then termed the move as "unexpected and disappointing". The sources, however, did not rule out the possibility of re-opening discussions with the Star Alliance. They also maintained that Air India was "fully compliant" with all conditions necessary for joining a global alliance of airlines having been met, the sources said.

Air India's bid to join the association suffered a setback on July 31 when the 27 airlines' group suspended the national carrier's integration into the network, on grounds that it had not met the minimum joining conditions contractually agreed to in December 2007. Joining the alliance would enable the ailing carrier to add depth to its route network in the international sector by providing passengers last mile connectivity in foreign countries, thereby making considerable savings. Star Alliance had also invited private carrier Jet Airways to join it along with Air India.

While Star Alliance has 27 airlines, including Lufthansa, Air Canada and Singapore Airlines, which together operate 21,000 daily flights to 1,1,60 destinations, SkyTeam has 14 member airlines, including Air France, Alitalia, KLM and Delta Airlines, having about 14,000 daily flights to 916 destinations.