Here is a good perspective from last year on what is happening with the Transatlantic JV:
This is news from last year, but since then it has gotten worse:

Delta plans to trim an additional 5% on existing 7-8% capacity cuts

• ATL Paris: cut one of three daily flights
• ATL Barcelona: cut
• ATL Milan: cut
• JFK Prague: cut
• JFK Rome: cut
• JFK Athens cut

With the Euro zone in crisis it's no surprise Transatlantic flights are being cut.
What is surprising is how the cuts are fairly one sided with Delta making the vast majority of the route reductions, while relying on AFKLM/AZ to pick up the loads to the key hubs CDG and AMS and the perform the onward European flying.

We are already below 50% and cutting way more flying than our JV partners
This graph is nearly identical to what Delta showed investors:


The new chart for this winter will most likely look similar...

Apparently I am in the minority in finding this not keeping in the spirit of the Transatlantic JV language. We are well below the 50% mark and below even the 'low-water mark" of 47.6% when Alitalia joined the JV. For last year the cumulative production balance was 47% of the flying. For perspective: our codeshare guy RD equates a 2.4% difference as 6-7 daily transatlantic flights.

Cheers
George

 

George,

While all that is true, the real problem here is the measuring mechanism. The out of balance is allowed to exist for a long time prior to measurement and cure. We're allowing the exact same thing with this TA. Ratios that don't even have to be measured for 2 years and don't have to be corrected for 2.5 years...if we even defend them.

When will we learn?

Carl

 

George, thanks for making the complex understandable.

 

Don't worry guys, we'll get it all back in profit sharing. Oops, well maybe not in profit sharing.

Any way, don't worry, we'll get it back some how, some day.

 

Not to confuse ramblings with facts, but AF/KLM/AZ are cutting transatlantic capacity by about 15% this winter. Their total capacity cuts are more than double what Delta's are. Your graph shows what happened last winter. I note how you try to confuse the intra European capacity with the Trans Atlantic capacity. As you know, we do US domestic and they do intra Europe and the JV is about Trans Atlantic capacity. So you discussing intra Europe flying is just one more misdirection.

I guess this is just as accurate as your bogus staffing slide. Well, really your entire line of bogus slides.

 

It's a two step process.

This TA is the first step.

And then there are no other steps.

 

Alfa,
Thats a pretty tall claim...

What AFKLM/AZ city pairs were cut,
what AFKLM/AZ routes reduced

how many EASKs for them, for us?
What is the monthly and accumulated production balance for the current compliance period from April 1, 2011 to date?

All my points have sources and are independently verifiable.
None of your claims can be substantiated in the same manner!

Show me!

Cheers
George

 

You do know that KLM/AF have capacity cuts across the North Atlantic for the peak summer season of 6.5 percent? They are planning large cuts for the winter and just announced large layoffs in support of their new schedule. I don't know if your intentionally trying to miss lead or did not bother with even a tiny bit of fact checking. I am actually not sure what your even trying to say. If your trying to make a point that without the joint venture Delta would have maintained capacity in the face of a huge economic meltdown in Europe then I think you are disallusioned. I think you can actually make the opposite case. Absent the joint venture pulldowns to Europe would be far more dramatic.

 

I looked and found this statement in George's post:

 

Well, I have several sources. There are several industry analysts that track capacity and I use three to give a rolling average. I also have the scope tracking scorecard that comes from Delta. Finally, we do OAG pulls to cross check the data.

I won't publish the EASK's because they are not public knowledge. Okay, now it's your turn, what sources do you have? You know, making a pretty graph does not make your information any more true.