Originally Posted by
findark
IME this has historically been the normal behavior with premium faring, only delegating if there is no inventory in any fare class. However, the idea that DL has married segment control to force CMH-LHR from Z to D just to protect space on CMH-JFK is lunacy and a prime example of Delta seemingly having zero interest in selling connecting flights. A sane airline would open down any domestic flight like that to match the TATL inventory. The JFK-LAX route in the thread makes more sense to protect, but CMH-JFK?!? Can't possibly risk cannibalizing that ultra-premium experience in the front of a CR9
Married segment inventory on this flight is actually more open than on the standalone flight which is down to J4C2. The fact they are down to only 4 seats in FC on it is likely playing a role here. A lot of the issues here likely come down to old standards like EDIFACT which limits fare classes to a single alpha character and requires pre-filed fares. NDC provides significantly more flexibility and doesn't stick airlines with the need to have a bunch of pre-filed fares at fixed price points.
The VS/DL Z fare (the 4 JV TATL partners coordinate their fare filings) is obviously the more rational choice here. But then that also creates confusion from people who don't understand married segment inventory concepts and why they are only getting C+ on the domestic segment when they are purchasing a D1 fare and there are still a few seats left in FC.
