It's good to know that all that Alaska feed will now feed Korean Air, instead of our Pacific ops... I guess this explains the lack of widebody orders!
Just take a look at what's happened in NYC to our transatlantic ops, and you'll get a taste of what's to come out in the Pacific. So, without further ado, here's the answer to the HND problem, as I predicted...
Delta Air Lines Inc. and
Korean Air Lines Co. are in talks to expand a decade-old marketing joint venture that has been overtaken by closer alliances among their rivals.
The discussions signal that relations between the second and third largest carriers across the Pacific have warmed since Delta's failed attempt two years ago to buy a stake in
Japan Airlines Co., which would have shifted Delta's emphasis to Tokyo at the expense of Seoul. The Delta-JAL talks fell apart after the Japanese carrier opted to remain in an alliance with Delta rival American Airlines.
The airline industry is increasingly moving away from loose global alliances toward deeper pacts between individual airlines that, with regulators' blessing, have allowed them to coordinate fares, flight schedules and marketing, and pool revenues and profit.
Though Delta has pursued individual alliances on trans-Atlantic routes, it doesn't have the same level of cooperation on routes to and from Asia enjoyed by some members of the rival Oneworld and Star airline marketing alliances, despite a small deal with
Virgin Australia Holdings Ltd.
John Jackson, Vice President Marketing for the Americas at Korean Air, said talks are under way with Delta to expand their existing cooperation, which now includes the ability to cross-sell seats on each others' flights and some limited use of the antitrust immunity granted by competition authorities in 2002.
"[The talks] have become more active," said Mr. Jackson, who declined in recent interview to detail the scope of the discussions.