hanjae

Delta recently updated partner earning page in Delta.com.
Interestingly, airlines are sorted in a group order, and KE is located among group 1 partner airlines.
I guess Delta will promote KE to a group 1 partner after JV approval.

dinanm3atl

nice

xliioper

Nevermind.

TerryK

It does look hopeful. It is still old earning chart but located in Group 1 slot. Let's wait for a few more days.

wlau

What are you talking about? There is no marked group numbering. KE does appear near the top but the earning is same as last year... NO MQD AND MQM!

BTW, I hate the new website, the old one was clear as it can be. I think they did it on purpose to confuse us and blur the tiers.

Mountain Explorer

Yes, DL has clearly removed the concept of Groups. However, the airlines are still listed in almost the same order that they used to be: all the formerly group 1 are at the top, then all the formerly group 2, etc. The one notable exception is that Korean Air (formerly group 4, should be at the very bottom) is now listed near the top, with the formerly group 1 airlines.

Yes, we all understand that the KE earnings chart hasn't changed yet, no MQM. But is the new location in the list a sign that a change is imminent? Maybe. That's the point OP was making.

WhiskeyBravo

Help me with this part of the JV here.

Delta knows that people on long journeys much prefer a 1-stop or non-stop over a 2-stop. If they have just a TPAC hub in SEA, then clearly the focus is having a bunch of USA > SEA > ASIA-Spoke 1-stop itineraries to maximize bookings and revenue (assume USA-Spoke > Asia-Spoke non-stops are not economical for the business)

If they have a TPAC hub in SEA and a TPAC hub in ICN, does that mean now that they will have a bunch of HUB -> TPAC Spoke flights from both sides of the Pacific? If they setup the network for 2-stops ( USA-Spoke > SEA > ICN > Asia-Spoke) sucks for travelers, commands the lowest $, and requires flying people more miles than any other routing style. For example, will we now have
SEA - HKG
SEA - PEK
SEA - TYO
SEA - PVG
SEA - BKK
SEA - NGO
SEA - TPE
SEA - etc...

AND

ICN - SFO
ICN - SEA
ICN - PDX
ICN - LAS
ICN - HOU
ICN - SLC
ICN - PHX
ICN - DEN
ICN - etc...

What do you think?

Mountain Explorer

I really don't see what the confusion is. It'll be just like trans-Atlantic. SEA will offer non-stops to the major Asian cities (like ATL/JFK offers nonstops to the major European cities). Alternatively, you can connect in ICN to reach any Asian city (just like you connect in CDG/AMS to reach any European city).

DL will probably allow you to double connect thru both SEA and ICN if you really want to (just like they usually allow you to double connect in ATL and CDG), but it won't be necessary for most people

xliioper

Yep, back in the hey day of the NRT hub, double-connect's were pretty much the norm if you were not located in a gateway city. If you were in DEN, you'd fly DEN-MSP-NRT-XXX. If you were in PHX or LAS, you could do LAS-LAX-NRT-XXX or PHX-LAX-NRT-XXX. Prior to the DL hub in LAX, NW used to codeshare on AA Eagle flights out of LAX which would connect western/CA cities to the LAX-NRT flight.

FireEmblemPride

Amazing news. Being Japan-based, having KE back in the fold will give me more options for getting around Asia and onto Europe on someone other than AF (their HND-CDG flight is always expensive).

ashill

You can't serve every market in Asia with only North American hubs, just like KE can't serve every market in North America with only ICN. That's a fundamental reason for joint ventures.

I would expect every or nearly every DL hub in the US and several other major cities (such as the ones you mention) to have nonstop service to ICN. I would also expect the SEA flights to remain. So for major US cities and DL hubs to major Asian cities, there will be, at worst, one-stop options via both SEA and ICN. What the joint venture enables is one-stop options from smaller US cities to major Asian cities (via SEA or another US hub) as well as one-stop options from major US cities to small Asian cities (via ICN). And flights between more or less any small US city and any small Asian city will have two-stop service (via US hubs and ICN); without the joint venture, DL couldn't serve markets like that at all (since NRT even in its heyday certainly didn't serve small Asian cities and nonstop service from SEA to smaller Asian cities isn't viable).

Longboater

Korean Air-Delta joint venture to get ?conditional approval?

Korean Air-Delta Joint Venture receives conditional approval and set to launch by the end of the first half of this year.

rylan

I wonder if this means KE will finally be restored to 'tier 1' earning so we can get MQD and MQM credit on KE marketed flights.

As another effect, I hope this also will allow GUC use on KE metal.

Keith2004

Finally,
Hope KE becomes Tier 1, will be much easier to do Asia
China eastern and Southern were just not cutting it for me

Chadg

The Delta-Korean JV has now been approved by both the US and Korean governments and will be launched in 2018

https://news.delta.com/delta-and-kor...re-partnership