Addendum
Delta’s smooth talking Ed woos estranged Korean Air
October 1st 2016
They were founding members of the SkyTeam alliance in 2000, but relations between Korean Air (KAL) and Delta Air Lines have been frosty, to say the least. Read More » The reason? Some years ago, KAL shunned an approach from its U.S. partner to forge a deeper joint venture agreement across the Pacific.
The proposed deal would have gone far beyond code-sharing and involved gaining anti-trust immunity so the carriers could share revenue and work together on pricing for flights. It was an arrangement Delta was extremely keen to consummate. Its major trans-Pacific rivals already had joint-ventures in North Asia: United Airlines with Japan’s All Nippon Airways and American Airlines with Japan Airlines.
While both carriers publicly played down a rift, Delta made KAL a weaker partner than other SkyTeam members such as Air France and KLM. It became harder for Delta customers to earn frequent flyer miles on KAL and each airline made it more difficult to sell flights on the other carrier. The U.S. carrier also appeared to change its strategy when it purchased a 3.55% stake in China Eastern Airlines and talked about connecting passengers through a Shanghai hub instead of Seoul.
But now it appears there is a thaw in relations following the announcement last month that KAL and Delta were increasing the routes on which they code-share from 32 to 147. It represented a significant deepening of a relationship that apparently has been developed by Delta’s new chief executive, Ed Bastian. As well as more shared flights, Delta is launching a non-stop service from its Atlanta headquarters to Seoul.
While Delta is still talking about its partnership with Shanghai-based China Eastern, it is understood it wanted to strengthen its relationship with KAL so it could offer its passengers easier access to secondary cities within Asia by flying through Seoul and avoiding China’s notorious air traffic delays.
Under the new arrangements, KAL can sell tickets on 115 of Delta’s routes within the U.S. and Canada and Delta can sell tickets directly for 32 KAL destinations beyond Seoul, including Taipei, Osaka, Singapore, Nagoya and Okinawa.
