Delta and the Virgin Blue say they plan to form a joint venture that will expand both carriers reach between the US and Australia and the South Pacific.
The airlines said today that they would seek regulatory approval to form a joint venture, but would collaborate on codesharing, frequent flyer reciprocity and in other areas in the meantime.
“Together, Delta and the Virgin Blue Airlines Group will be a stronger and more effective competitor by offering consumers greater choice of destinations, frequencies and schedules, all on leading-edge aircraft for network and revenue management,” Delta executive vice president Glen Hauenstein said.
“For Delta, this agreement is a significant milestone in the expansion of our global network in the Australia and South Pacific region.”
Delta began flying non-stop, daily services between Australia and the United States on Wednesday, July 1.
Chief executive officer of Virgin Blue, Brett Godfrey, said Virgin Blue and Delta made a “tremendously exciting fit”.
“Not only will we offer travellers many new benefits and possibilities, but also the alliance of two new entrant operators will ensure that vital competition is sustained on the trans-Pacific route.”
Delta began its Pacific services with a Boeing 777-200LR equipped with 180-degree, full-flat beds in its BusinessElite class.
V Australia, a Virgin Blue Group airline, also operates a daily, non-stop Boeing 777 service between Los Angeles and Sydney, and services three times weekly between Los Angeles and Brisbane.
A new, three times weekly service between Los Angeles and Melbourne is planned for September, 2009.
Virgin Blue shares closed at 29 cents yesterday
Source:The Herald Sun
By: steve rowell - 24th July 2009 at 11:37
Air New Zealand will oppose the proposed trans-Pacific joint venture between Virgin Blue and Delta Air Lines… saying any benefits to consumers from a tie-up between the two airlines can be achieved by more conventional means.
The Kiwi carrier… now the second airline to oppose the joint venture after Tiger Airways last week said it would object… also pointed to a decision by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission last year that denied Air New Zealand permission to work with Air Canada.
By: steve rowell - 18th July 2009 at 06:16
Tiger Airways will lodge an objection to oppose the application by Virgin Blue’s Boeing 777 international arm V Australia… and America’s Delta Airlines… to run code-sharing flights between the Australia and the US.
Singapore Airlines which is a major shareholder in Tiger… has previously made several applications to Australia for permission to fly the US-Australia Pacific route… but was unsuccessful each time.
By: steve rowell - 17th July 2009 at 04:01
USDOT fined Delta Airlines $375,000 last Thursday for failing to follow the proper procedures for bumping passengers from flights. According to the department, Delta inadequately explained to passengers what they’re entitled to and why they got bumped.
DOT representative Bill Mosley said the department logged 311 consumer complaints of overbookings from January to June of 2008; of those, 35 cited Delta, second to U.S. Airways, which logged 50 complaints over the same period (U.S. Airways was fined $140,000 in December).
When carriers overbook flights, the Department of Transportation requires airlines to find volunteers willing to give up their seats in exchange for compensation in the form of money or vouchers for future travel. If there aren’t enough volunteers, passengers who get involuntarily bumped are also entitled to additional compensation. The amount depends on the price of passengers’ tickets and length of the delay.
Source: The Wall Street Journal
By: Ship 741 - 13th July 2009 at 02:26
For weeks, the word on the street was: “The new guys won’t be able to compete.”
Now that they have found a way to provide real competition (this is good for customers isn’t it?), the established players will run to the governments for help. Very predictable. And the side benefit to their whining (if it works) will be that those QANTAS A380’s get protected from any real competition. Voila!
By: kevinwm - 10th July 2009 at 14:49
News has it ANZ will be opposing it.
The beardy one will not be happy about that, Have heard that quite a few Airlines are in the running to object to this deal, espcailly after VS objecting to the BA-AA deal
Stab proof jacket at the ready :diablo::diablo:
By: symon - 10th July 2009 at 06:13
News has it ANZ will be opposing it.
By: Arabella-Cox - 9th July 2009 at 20:00
Hmm. Something tells me this wasn’t a deal that was struck just last night. :rolleyes:
By: Ship 741 - 9th July 2009 at 19:26
The plot thickens…
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July 9, 2009 at 3:47 am