Delta Deal
with Latam
Well, in every respect this is a pretty big deal, but
leave it to a A350 pilot to highlight this little tidbit. As part of the 20% equity stake Delta is
going to purchase from Latam, all their current 5 A350’s and the 10 that are on
order, Delta is buying outright. Yeah,
that A350 pilot is my son, Mike, and he loves the airplane. The legs that it flies are a bit on the
longside though and that can get to anybody.
Anyway, this deal moves Latam away from an arrangement with AA and straight
into a stronger deal with Delta. Here
below is more on the announcement.
Delta’s
Deal For 20% Of Latin America’s Largest Airline Leaves Competitors Scrambling
I have covered the airline industry for over 17 years.
It’s rare that airline
announcements truly send ripples across the world, but Delta’s plan to take a 20% stake in South
American carrier LATAM has the
potential to realign air travel between the U.S. and South America; between
South America and Europe; between South America and the Mideast; and between
South America and Australia.
·
The mega South
American carrier, which has a huge presence in Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay,
Peru, and Chile, will become a Delta Air Lines partner, ending its relationship
with American Airlines, which had been pursuing a tighter joint venture with
LATAM.
·
This continues
Delta's move to acquire stakes in airlines around the world, adding to the 49%
of Virgin Atlantic and of Aeromexico that it owns, along with shareholdings in
Korean Air, Air France KLM, and China Eastern. (Delta will have to divest its
9% stake in Brazil's Gol to get approval for this deal.)
·
LATAM will leave the
oneworld alliance, which includes American, British Airways, Iberia, Qantas and
others.
·
However LATAM will
not join the SkyTeam alliance - underscoring Delta CEO Ed Bastian's belief that
global airline alliances haven't met their potential and provide only limited
benefit to airlines and customers.
This catapults Delta from being a minor player
in South America to becoming a major one, and will allow it to grow its flying
out of cities like Miami with a huge Latin presence where it’s weak today.
What's especially interesting, though, is how other airlines around the world
will need to respond.
Passengers board a LATAM Airlines Airbus 320 at Puerto
Maldonado airport, also know as Padre Aldamiz ... [+]
American Airlines is Left Without a Dance Partner
American Airlines had been pursuing a joint
venture with LATAM. They had regulatory approval for anti-trust immunity to
coordinate schedules and pricing and share revenue between the U.S. and South
America but ran into one final, fatal blow - a ruling by the Chilean Supreme
Court over competition concerns that stopped the deal from moving forward.For its part, American says little is lost by having Delta take over this partnership – American suggests that it was generating less than $20 million a year from the relationship with LATAM, and without being able to build on the partnership between the U.S. and Chile they had limited upside going forward.
Today American Airlines is the largest American carrier between the U.S. and South America, however soon it will find itself without the ability to transport passengers from major cities in Brazil, Argentina and elsewhere to their final destinations. And it doesn't have many options for picking up new partners.
·
Colombia's Avianca
is closely tied to United Airlines through debt. There's little opportunity to
wrest away a partnership with that troubled airline.
·
That leaves low-cost
carriers Gol and Azul as major airlines carrying passengers of significance.
Both are Brazil-based.
·
Delta is dropping
its Gol partnership, potentially creating an opening for American, but it's a
modest one. Delta says it failed to attract significant passenger traffic from
Gol, which is largely limited to Brazil. Still, that could help support
American's Brazil operations, which are more significant than Delta's.
LATAM's Chairman Ignacio Cueto gave an interview in Spanish where he shared that American Airlines,
once slated to be its closest partner, had no advance warning about the 20%
stake Delta was taking.
What Will Other oneworld Airlines Do When LATAM Leaves the
Alliance?
LATAM's Chairman Cueto also shared that since
LATAM won’t be a part of any global alliance - it’s leaving oneworld, but won’t
be joining SkyTeam - LATAM will rely on bilateral relationships. Delta won’t be
its only partner.This bolster’s Delta CEO Ed Bastian’s claim that alliances are losing relevance to airlines and to consumers, and may lead other airlines to closely scrutinize their participation in SkyTeam, oneworld, and Star Alliance with wide ranging implications. However it also leaves openings from oneworld members that previously partnered with LATAM and that aren’t named American Airlines.
Qantas, for instance, has built its Latin America strategy around partnering with LATAM. Cueto says he hopes to continue LATAM’s partnerships with British Airways, Iberia, and with Qantas.
For American Airlines customers with American
Express or Chase points, by the way, this would mean likely still being able to
redeem for travel on LATAM by transferring those points to British Airways even
if it will no longer be possible to do so with AAdvantage miles.
A Shot Across the Bow of Qatar Airways
The most abrasive relationship in the airline
industry is the one between Delta and Qatar Airways. Delta has led the charge,
and brought along American and United Airlines, to lobby against big Gulf
airlines Emirates, Etihad, and Qatar Airways being permitted to fly to the U.S.
despite treaties with the U.A.E. and Qatar allowing them to do so.This effort dates publicly to early 2015 and failed during both the Obama and Trump administrations. Lobbying efforts of late have focused largely on Qatar's 49% investment in Italian airline Air Italy, where U.S. carriers argue that it's in essence Qatar Airways offering flights between the U.S. and Europe - something they're permitted to do under the Open Skies treaty but also something they said they had no current intention of doing as part of putting the political issue to bed last year.
The dispute has often gotten personal. Qatar's CEO has said that Delta "flies crap airplanes" and described the reason it started service between Doha and Atlanta as "to rub sale in the wounds" of Delta. Delta, for its part, has led a public campaign which has appeared to cross into xenophobia at times and Delta’s CEO even skipped a meeting with President Trump at which the CEO of Qatar Airways was going to be present.
Qatar Airways has a pre-existing 10% stake in
LATAM. Delta will have an ownership position that's twice as large. This is the
only carrier in which the two airlines share a joint interest, and LATAM will
be leaving the oneworld alliance of which Qatar Airways is a part. LATAM's
Chairman Cueto, though promising bilateral cooperation with other airlines even
that were a part of oneworld, noticeably did not list Qatar Airways as being
among those.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
From: Travis Foster
Date: 9/16/2019 3:23:34 PM
Subject: Fwd: Seeking Anyone Who Worked on DC-7
Please
respond to Drake Castaneda at drake.castaneda@delta.com
Travis
Foster
From: dlpioneers@juno.com
To: thfoster6@aol.com
Sent: 9/16/2019 1:24:43 PM Eastern Standard Time
Subject: Seeking Anyone Who Worked on DC-7
To: thfoster6@aol.com
Sent: 9/16/2019 1:24:43 PM Eastern Standard Time
Subject: Seeking Anyone Who Worked on DC-7
|
DELTA PIONEERS, INC.
c/o Delta Air Lines, Inc.
P.O. Box 20706
Dept. 995
Atlanta, GA 30320-6001
Email: dlpioneers@juno.com
Website: www.deltapioneersinc.com
Facebook: Delta Pioneers
Office Phone: 404-715-2827
Dear Travis H.,
Drake Castaneda, Corporate Communications, is doing a story on the DC-7.
He is seeking anyone who may have done work on this
type of aircraft.
If you performed any work on this type of airplane, please contact
him directly.
|
|
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Airlift request from Capt McCarthy for hurricane victims
To:
dwskjerven@aol.com
Sent: 9/29/2019 1:13:05 PM Central Standard Time
Subject: Re: 737 Max
Sent: 9/29/2019 1:13:05 PM Central Standard Time
Subject: Re: 737 Max
Hi Dave,
Do you know if any of our friends have contacts in a C-130 unit?
I am associated with a charitable organization that does housing
construction every year in the island nation of Dominica (NOT the Dominican
Republic). The island was devistated in 2017 by Hurricane Maria, and they are
far from re-establishing adequate housing for thier residents.The group uses
the Denton Program to transport their building supplies and other goods to the
island.
I just received notice that the current shipment has been inspected,
and approved for shipment. We now have an "Awaiting Transportation"
status.
If any of you have a connection with a C-130 unit looking for an
opportunity for a training mission and do good at the same time have them look
up the Good News Project (Wausau, WI) on Transportation Command's list.
I appreciate any help,
Mark McCarthy
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
BA
labor dispute still unsettled
British
Airways pilots’ union calls off Sept. 27 strike
British Airways Boeing 777-300ER
Rob Finlayson
A proposed strike by British Airways (BA) pilots for Sept. 27 has been called off by the pilots’ union, giving
the airline a new set of problems.
The strike was to be the third
day of industrial action between the British Airline Pilots Association (BALPA)
and the carrier over pay and conditions.
BA has offered pilots an 11.5%
pay increase over the next three years, which has been rejected by the
flightdeck workforce. The two previous strike days, on Sept. 9 and 10, saw BA canceling virtually all its 850
daily flights.
BA had already begun the
process of telling passengers their booked flights on Sept. 27 will not go
ahead. There is now likely to be confusion among passengers as to whether their
flights will be reinstated.
The previous strikes were notable
for a BA administrative glitch resulting in thousands of passengers receiving notice that
their flights had been canceled, only for the airline to later rescind the
notice. By that time, many passengers had rebooked tickets with other carriers,
at their own expense.The UK regulator, the CAA, is looking into the incident
and has said that passengers who were mistakenly told their flight was canceled
can make claims against BA.
In response to the latest
strike being called off, BA said in a brief statement: “We have just received
this news. We are considering the implications and we will give our customers
updates in due course.”
BALPA said it had called off
the latest walkout after the two previous strike days “demonstrated the anger
and resolve of pilots.” The union added that it is now time for a period of
reflection “before the dispute escalates further and irreparable damage is done
to the brand.
“Someone has to take the
initiative to sort out this dispute and with no sign of that from BA the pilots
have decided to take the responsible course,” BALPA general secretary Brian
Strutton said.
“In a genuine attempt at
establishing a time-out for common sense to prevail, we have lifted the threat
of the strike on 27 September,” Strutton said. “BA passengers rightly
expect BA and its pilots to resolve their issues without disruption and now is
the time for cool heads and pragmatism to be brought to bear. I hope BA and its
owner IAG show as much responsibility as the pilots.” He added, “Should BA
refuse meaningful new negotiations, BALPA retains the right to announce further
strike dates.”
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The European Space Agency (ESA) commanded its Earth-science satellite to
raise its orbit, adding margin to pass by a SpaceX Starlink.
The two satellites were
on a possible collision course, though the odds of that happening were well
below ESA's threshold.
There's talk about using AI and
autoflight systems to prevent conjunctions but there's no answer without a human in the
middle just yet.
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