Delta, Air France and KLM Announce Final Steps toward Fare Class Alignment
 

This in an email just received from Delta.

Delta, Air France and KLM Announce Final Steps toward Fare Class Alignment

(January 22, 2013) - Nearly two years ago, Delta, Air France and KLM embarked on a strategic initiative to align fare classes for published and private fares. Delta Air Lines is pleased to announce that the final steps of fare class alignment are about to take place.

Fare Class Alignment will be rolled out in four phases between January and March 2013. Once complete, Delta’s fare classes will be better aligned with its trans-Atlantic joint venture partners Air France and KLM. The dates included in this announcement are tentative and are subject to modification.

Agreements will be adapted to reflect the new fare classes as outlined below.

Dates of Implementation and Program Highlights for Each Phase

Phase 1

Effective January 23, 2013, for travel on or after January 30, 2013, “V “and “X” class will be replaced with “R” (First Class) and “O” (Business Class) for Delta’s Complimentary Medallion upgrades.

Although the upgrade class of service is changing to “R” and “O” class, and will be the same class of service as the other upgrade certificate programs in Phase 2 (see below), the number of seats allocated for these upgrades will not change. Delta is managing the inventory behind the scenes.

“V” and “X” Class will no longer be part of the Domestic First Class and Business Class cabin. They will be reintroduced in Phase 4 in the Economy Class cabin.
Additional details for Phase 1 - including how fare class alignment will affect travel agency PNRs and tickets - are listed below.

Phase 2

Effective February 6, 2013, for travel on or after February 19, 2013, “G” and “Z” classes will be replaced with “R” (First Class) and “O” (Business Class) for certain upgrades.

Although the upgrade class of service is changing, and is the same class of service as the Complimentary Medallion Upgrades (see Phase 1), the number of seats allocated for these upgrades will not change. Delta is managing the inventory behind the scenes.

“G” and “Z” classes will be reintroduced in Phase 4 in the Domestic First Class cabin and Business Class cabin as “displayed” classes of service.
Additional details for Phase 2 will be provided prior to launch.

Phase 3

Effective February 23, 2013, for travel originating on/after February 27, 2013, “S” Class will be replaced with “Z” Class in the Business Class cabin.

“Z” Class will become a “displayed” class of service in the Business Class cabin.

“S” Class will no longer be part of the Business Class cabin. It will be reintroduced in Phase 4 into the Economy Class cabin.
Additional details for Phase 3 will be provided prior to launch.

Phase 4 - Final Phase

On March 19, 2013, Delta will reintroduce “G” class in the Domestic First Class cabin. In addition, “S”, “X” and “V” classes will be reintroduced in the Economy Class cabin.

“S” Class will no longer be part of the Business Class cabin.

Additional details for Phase 4 will be provided prior to launch.

Final Classes of Service Hierarchy

The final classes of service hierarchy will be:
J, C, D, I, Z, O*, F, P, A, G, R*, Y, B, M, S, H, Q, K, L, U, T, X, V, E

*non-displayed class of service
Additional Details

Phase 1 - Effective January 23, 2013 for travel on/after January 30, 2013

Reservations booked in” V” and “X” Class will remain in “V” and “X” Class if travel is on or prior to Jan. 29.
It is possible for a customer to be booked in “V” or “X” class on the outbound if traveling on or prior to January 29, and in “R” or “O” class on the return if traveling on/after January 30.

Reservations with “V” and “X” class will be rebooked into “R” (First Class) and “O” (Business Class) for travel on/after January 30, 2013.

On January 30, “V “and “X” Class will no longer be visible in an availability display.

So this means the end of ExpertFlyer carrying DL upgrade inventory?

Also, who wants to wager on MQM or SkyMiles earning rates for X, V, and E fares? I think the M fare change sets this up perfectly for 50% MQM earning.

What about W?

Who bets Delta will screw up the implementation of this, resulting in 20+ threads here?

I am not smart enough to be a dl platinum....

What is happening with Award buckets? There aren't enough letters left to accomodate F/J and Y H/M/L awards:p

Wow, big change!

Now that G/V are being merged into R and Z/X are being merged into O, does this mean the corresponding upgrade inventories will be merged as well?

Also, what is happening to the current award fare classes? R/O/N?

Is this a joke? I thought that DL and AF/KLM weren't talking to each other.

Any reaction from EF and KVS?

So does this mean that mileage upgrades will now trump complimentary upgrades at the gate? Same inventory bucket ...

I suspect it will remain true that mileage upgrades will not be processed at the gate. Besides, currently at the gate, upgrade inventory class doesn't matter. If there are open FC or BE seats, upgrades into them are processed in priority order from the list of those eligible for upgrades.

YBMHQKLUT (and even YBMHQKLUTE) had such a ring to it.

Where's my W?!!!

Seems like W will still stick around as Premium Economy for AF fares ... in between Business and Economy. Since DL doesn't have a PE product, it's not part of the "alignment"

It's a big global airline, some JV working groups still talk to each other @:-)

I think the op missed some hidden classes, double letters I believe.