<P> Star Alliance is one of the world's largest global airline alliances . Founded on 14 May 1997, its current CEO is Jeffrey Goh and its headquarters is located in Frankfurt am Main, Germany . As of November 2016, Star Alliance is the largest global alliance by passenger count with 689.98 million, ahead of SkyTeam (665.4 million) and Oneworld (557.4 million). Its slogan is "The Way The Earth Connects". </P> <P> Star Alliance's 27 member airlines operate a fleet of approximately 4,657 aircraft, serving more than 1,330 airports in 192 countries on more than 18,500 daily departures . The alliance has a two - tier rewards program, Silver and Gold, with incentives including priority boarding and upgrades . Like other airline alliances, Star Alliance airlines share airport terminals (known as co-location) and many member planes are painted in the alliance's livery . </P> <P> On 14 May 1997, an agreement was announced forming Star Alliance from five airlines on three continents: United Airlines, Scandinavian Airlines, Thai Airways, Air Canada, and Lufthansa . The alliance chose Young & Rubicam for advertising, with a budget of $25 million (€ 18 million). The airlines shared the star logo from the beginning, with its five points representing the founding airlines . The alliance adopted its first slogan, "The Airline Network for Earth", with its goal "an alliance that will take passengers to every major city on earth". </P> <P> The now defunct Brazilian airline VARIG joined the Star Alliance network on 22 October 1997, extending the alliance into South America . Also joining were Ansett Australia and Air New Zealand, expanding Star Alliance to Australia and the Pacific . With the addition of the latter two carriers, the alliance served 720 destinations in 110 countries with a combined fleet of 1,650 aircraft . The next airline to join was All Nippon Airways (ANA), the group's second Asian airline, on 15 October 1999 . </P>

Is united airlines part of the star alliance