What are Delta airlines' partners?
Delta Air Lines Partners
Currently, Delta Air Lines has established codeshare agreements with many international airlines to help expand its coverage and offer more services and amenities to travelers. Below is a snapshot of some of the major airline partners that have a strategic relationship with Delta.
SkyTeam Alliance
SkyTeam is an international aviation partnership formed in 2000 with major airline companies including Delta, Aeromexico, Air France, and Korean Air as its initial members. SkyTeam was established in 2000 and is now one of the three biggest airline alliance systems. 20 member airlines offer passengers a broad network serving over 170 countries.
The loyalty program of Delta is designed in such a way that SkyTeam allows passengers to earn and redeem miles on all associated partners. Some of the benefits of being a legacy member include priority in check-in, boarding, and baggage when flying with other SkyTeam airlines.
Some of Delta's key SkyTeam partners include:
Delta Airlines has a cooperative network arrangement with Air France and KLM across the North Atlantic. This guarantees that travelers have well-coordinated flight schedules, make use of comparable amenities, pay equivalent fares, and use reciprocal incentive systems.
Aeromexico is a member of Delta Alliance; the two have a tight working connection since Delta has bought 49% of the company's shares. Particularly in Mexico and the USA, the airlines have joint ventures with protection guaranteed.
Since Delta and Korean Air may cooperate on so many trans-Pacific flights, this kind of joint venture is quite broad.
Virgin Atlantic: Through a controlling 49% stake, Virgin Atlantic, not a member of SkyTeam, is entirely controlled by Delta. Working under a transatlantic alliance, they create a schedule between the USA, the UK, and farther afield.
Although Delta does not hold any share in Virgin Australia, its participation in the Velocity Frequent Flyer Program entitles it to a commercial relationship.
Non-Alliance Airline Partners
However, SkyTeam is the focus of Delta's strategic direction; Delta keeps non-SkyTeam partners as well, via equity stakes and codeshares.
LATAM Airlines: Delta has spent $1.9 billion to acquire a 20% stake in LATAM Airlines. When added to current connections between airlines and LATAM and American Airlines, it establishes the most popular US-South American airline connection.
WestJet: WestJet and Delta have a partnership in the transborder market that covers flights between Canada and the USA. Strategic cooperation is beneficial for passengers as it adds new routes but at the same time ensures that their schedules for flights and airports, as well as frequent flyer programs, are matching.
China Eastern Airlines: To gain a foothold deep into China, Delta acquired a 3.5% stake in China Eastern in 2015. The airlines were granted government approval in 2021 to combine their operations into a single entity for China-North America flights, where they can set unified ticket prices and sell them collectively.
Joint Venture Benefits
Some of the JVs and equity acquisitions that Delta has entered offer ‘’de facto" anti-trust immunity, which implies that the partner airlines are allowed to integrate at a deeper level without the risk of contravening anti-trust laws. This means that they can share costs and revenue and also have the same timetable as well as integrated and compatible frequent flyer programs. Customers benefit from:
They are more comprehensive routes that cover a greater number of cities and regions.
More precise connection time when transferring between flights
Freebies and privileges associated with membership to loyalty programs in reciprocal airlines
Bag allowance that does not change frequently and access to airline lounges
smooth interface with the client for all flight carriers
In the end, the joint ventures make Delta and all its key partners harmonize and offer its passengers a more consolidated experience. Instead of giving a distinct impression of two different airlines, it plans to give the impression of a unified single airline when flying, regardless of the actual operating airline of a given flight segment.
Enhanced Loyalty Partnerships
In addition to equity and joint venture partnerships, Delta maintains close loyalty program partnerships with multiple airlines: In addition to its equity and joint venture partnerships, Delta maintains close loyalty program partnerships with multiple airlines:
Virgin Australia Velocity Frequent Flyer.
It is relevant to state that passengers are allowed to earn as well as redeem Delta miles on Virgin Australia. It is the noble privilege of the elite members to access priority services such as premium check-in, boarding, and baggage handling while flying with Virgin Australia.
Air France/KLM Flying Blue
Delta SkyMiles members can earn rewards and award miles on all flights operated by Air France and KLM, plus matching Delta status. Award travel is also possible across the airlines at a predetermined brand-level award redemption price.
Aer Lingus AerClub
Travelers can accrue Delta miles while flying with Aer Lingus, and the option is available for redemption. This is good for passengers who are Delta Elite members in that they get to board first before other passengers when they are flying Aer Lingus and they also get to access the lounges.
Some other affiliated airline companies with SkyMiles are AeroMexico, Alitalia, China Eastern Airlines, and Gol. These range from simple mileage accumulation and redemption programs and, on the other end of the spectrum, elite customer reward programs and closer managed networks.
Strategic Domestic Partnerships
In the United States, Delta's domestic network is supported through strategic affiliations, operating code sharing, and commercial arrangements.
Delta Connection Partners
Delta has other regional partners comprising Compass Airlines, Endeavor Air, and SkyWest; they fly smaller planes on low-demand routes under the Delta Connection. This feeds traffic to Delta's domestic hubs in Seattle, Minneapolis, and Los Angeles.
American Airlines
Hence, the Northeast AllianceTM formed between Delta and America entails a working relationship of their check-in, gates, and baggage areas in New York and Boston. Some co-location already exists because of joint ventures with joint partners; the above expands the co-location concept further. This opens up a wider opportunity for Delta to gain a better competitive edge over United and JetBlue in the competitive Northeast region.
Alaska Airlines
Alaska Airlines does not belong to any of the three major global alliances, but it has a very strong partnership and an intermiledage agreement with both Delta and American Airlines. The following benefits apply to Alaska Flights for Delta passengers: Earning of miles and having the opportunity for award travels.
Such partnerships enable Delta to organize the achievement of high-value domestic markets in competitive markets such as New York and Seattle.
In Summary
Through joint ventures, equity investments, and loyalty programs spanning six continents, Delta uses strategic airline partners significantly to expand its reach. There are major categories of joint ventures that offer significant interdependence in the strategic areas of North American European partnership, North American Asian partnership, and North and South American partnership. Loyalty partnerships then increase the choice of more airlines throughout additional continents with related offers. Thus, as the world's integrated carrier is formed with shared costs, revenues, and customer gains, the company gains the ability to serve hundreds of destinations on a profitable basis. That is made possible by numerous airline partners who are associated with Delta in undertaking their operations.