Amid all the speculation about consolidation and merger and acquisition moves in the global airline industry a minority stake for Germany’s Lufthansa in JetBlue, a US low cost airline, was until Thursday one of the least likely steps imagined.

The German flag carrier is one of the world’s leading network airlines. It is one of the most powerful members of the Star global airline alliance, and within this grouping it has developed particularly close ties with United Airlines, one of the leading US network airlines. US Airways is also a Star member.