Air France, Delta May Ally
June 17, 9:17 am EST

PARIS (AP) -- Air France has chosen Delta Air Lines as its partner to build a worldwide alliance, the daily economics newspaper Les Echos reported Thursday.

Air France has code sharing agreements with Delta and another American carrier, Continental Airlines, and had been negotiating with both carriers for a more formal bond to build a strategic, global alliance.

After a year of weighing the pros and cons of a major partnership with each airline, Air France settled on Delta, Les Echos said, citing unnamed sources.

Air France declined to comment on the report. Delta spokeswoman Kay Horner said Thursday she hasn't heard whether Air France has chosen a partner.

``We're aware of those rumors and we are aware that Air France will pick a partner sometime this year. We hope it is us,'' she said from Atlanta.

She said such a partnership would allow Delta an alliance as well as growth within the European market.

Les Echos attributed Air France's decision to its competition on U.S.-Europe routes with an alliance joining Continental with some other major European carriers, including Alitalia and KLM Royal Dutch Airlines.

Air France Chairman Jean-Cyril Spinetta has said recently that he would explain the company's choice by the end of the year. Les Echos said an announcement could come as early as Tuesday.

If this turns out to be true it is excellent news. Its about time that DL started to build a true global alliance and Air France is a good start.

Now, who to get in Asia and Austrilasia... http://talk.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

James

[This message has been edited by james (edited 06-17-1999).]

next: Delta and Swissair (Qualiflyer-group) (will) end partnership.

Yes, I think your assessment is right Rudi. As you pointed out a few months ago, Delta's new European codeshare flights with AF must have displeased Swissair greatly already.

Do you think SR will terminate the agreements soon, or will they wait until a DL-AF alliance is formally announced (or maybe even operating)?

James

I wonder what they would call this alliance?

LE Magnifique?

As for other partners:

Asia: Cathay Pacific.

OZ: Ayres Rock.

Then SwissAir leaves Delta and forms its own.


------------------
MEOW! MEOW! MEOW!!!

Well what we might like and what we will get are not the same in this case. Isn't Cathay part of OneWorld?

j.

Extremely bad for DL in my view to lose SR!

Sorry to keep posting in the same thread but I think this is an important development.

I have to disagree with you Doc - surely it is more important for Delta to be part of a strategic international alliance than to have a casual alliance with a single nice airline? The DL-SR partnership is all well and good, but the range of destinations served is sadly limited compared with Oneworld and Star. That is a big disadvantage. There are big holes in the DL-Qualiflyer network and they need to be filled. DL has also lost out recently by ending codeshare pacts with other carriers and a global alliance could make good that shortfall.

I think what will make or break this is the partnership network they can build, especially to/in Asia and the South Pacific where all the big players are committed. I think there is also a weakness in that Delta's international network is centred in ATL which is out of the way for most people (not me). I know they are building at JFK but AF's transatlantic flights will help a lot. If the new alliance can combine a truly global route network with the highest standards of service (Oneworld's strong card) they can compete.

I hope it works. It's about time - I was getting worried about DL getting squeezed. I have no idea what SR's strategic plans are. It seems to me observing casually that they would fit in well with Oneworld, but I don't think Austrian, TAP etc. would. Anyone care to comment?

Maybe we're all jumping to conclusions here. The European (and especially French) press is known to send out false stories, sometimes to mislead competitiors, or just to have a scoop. We should wait until the announcement is formally made, and see what DL and CO responses are...

James- you surely raise valid points regarding DL's problems internationally and I would anticipate that many would agree with you. it also looks good for DL and kind of a nasty blow for CO.

I'm probably in a minority, but to me SR is the absolute best European based carrier. AF, is not bad, but they don't rival SQ as SR does. For me, AF's strength is their food! And they are always on a rotating strike! The pilots, flight attendants, machinists, reservations etc all take turns striking and then the air traffic control people go out! There is a nearly a revolution going on in France it seems and labor and management seem to be incapable of avoiding walkouts- often unannounced and especially in summer!

Can't argue with the true global alliance concept though. I just wish the emphasis was more on quality. Having said all this, I hope I'm wrong and it works out well!

Doc - I concur with all your comments, except the one about it being a "nasty blow for CO".

Bear in mind that Continental is going to have a very closer tie up with KLM and Alitalia. Although, having AirFrance in there as well, would of been great, that just wasn't a reality. If they had all 3 continental European airlines in the alliance, I am sure that somebody would of screamed anti-competitive practice.

Get your point Steve100, and probably, in fact surely, overstated it with the "nasty blow" rhetoric, but it made them appear to be the loser and the one left out at a time when they are expanding, making money and generally doing quite well. Regards!

From Delta:

(Please excuse any dodgy formatting).


AIR FRANCE AND DELTA AIR LINES FORGE GLOBAL ALLIANCE

22 Jun 1999


ATLANTA, GA, June 22, 1999 -- Today Air France and Delta Air Lines have signed an exclusive long-term strategic agreement that lays the foundations for a major global alliance, to be announced by the end of the year.

This alliance will be set up with other airlines from among Air France’s and Delta Air Lines’ existing partners and other carriers interested in this project.

As Delta Chairman Leo F. Mullin stated, “The Air France-Delta Alliance is a victory for global airline customers and for the two carriers’ employees and shareholders. Our customers will benefit first from the agreement as two of the world’s premier airlines will be working together to guarantee them new standards of excellence throughout the world.”

In forming the global alliance, Air France and Delta intend to work together in a number of fields, with the objective of offering their customers the best possible service and the same standard of quality and consistency in both airlines. They will do this by aligning their procedures and commercial policies more closely. Cooperation will be extended to the cargo sector so as to combine Delta’s powerful US market with Air France’s broad experience in this field as the world’s third-ranking cargo airline. The two carriers will be developing their cooperation in all areas where efficiencies can be achieved.

“This strong and lasting alliance with Delta, with whom we have worked well for some time, is a very important step for Air France” declared Air France Chairman, Jean-Cyril Spinetta. “Air France, a European major, is joining forces with the largest US passenger
carrier. The two airlines will build on the network advantages provided by linking Atlanta, the world’s largest hub, with Paris-Charles de Gaulle, the European hub offering the best potential for growth.”

“Airline customers today must be able to travel or ship cargo from anywhere in the world to everywhere else, but no one airline can meet this demand alone,” Delta’s Mr. Mullin said. “The Alliance we are in the process of forming will be the means for world airlines to accomplish together what no one of us is able to accomplish single-handedly.”

“Delta and Air France together have begun the process of creating a multi-carrier alliance that will offer both great service and an unsurpassed route network providing access to the markets our customers seek most,” said Air France’s Mr. Spinetta. “While our carriers are the cornerstones in Europe and North America for the worldwide alliance to come, we are already exploring opportunities with other potential founding partners.”

Operating a network of 174 destinations in 85 countries (excluding code-shared flights) Air France is well established in Europe, Africa, Middle East and Asia as well as in the Americas. It also has a predominant position on the French market, Europe’s largest domestic market.

Delta, with service to 230 cities in 29 countries, is the best established airline in the eastern half of the USA, where most of the US-Europe traffic is concentrated. This year Delta was elected “Airline of
the Year” by Air Transport World and “Best-Managed Major Airline” by Aviation Week.

The alliance binding Air France and Delta Air Lines is based on the clear legal framework of the French-US aviation agreement signed on 8 April 1998, which has boosted air services between France and the United States. The new alliance will enable the two carriers to pursue their growth policy on North Atlantic routes, the world’s leading international market and platform for any global alliance.



James

Since merry isn't around to make the snide remark, I'll oblige: Hey Delta, when you lay with the dogs, expect to get up with fleas...(but then again, it beats sleeping alone...)

[This message has been edited by Matt Wald (edited 06-22-1999).]

Matt, you know, that's my airline you're talking about http://talk.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif

Anyway, Delta has added some information to their webpage which I really don't feel like reading buy some of you may:

http://www.delta-air.com/alliance/index.html

Is that better, beckles?

Ummm, not really!

http://talk.flyertalk.com/forum/Forum109/HTML/000022.html

With this new DL/AF alliance, where does that put Continental? As a One Pass member will I still accrue one pass miles when I fly Air France? Will my Presidents Club membership be valid in the Air France club at CDG? Just wondering......

Don't know for sure, but certainly yes for now and probably no in the future!