Delta Air Lines announced on Thursday the signing of a new trans-American Joint Venture Agreement with the LATAM Airlines Group and its affiliates. The carrier’s will seamlessly connect their complementary North and South American routes.
Yesterday, Delta Air Lines and the LATAM Airlines Group announced the strengthening of their relationship with the signing of a new trans-American Joint Venture Agreement. Subject to regulatory approvals, the agreement will combine the carriers’ complementary North and South American route networks to provide seamless travel and industry-leading connectivity to their customers. Last September, Delta announced that they would take a 20 percent equity stake in the leading Latin American airline group and the airlines have been deepening their cooperation in areas such as codeshare agreements, frequent flyer benefits, smoother airport hub connections and mutual lounge access. In Thursday’s announcement, Delta Air Lines’ CEO Ed Bastian said,
“Late last year, we set out to build the leading strategic alliance in Latin America together with LATAM, and while the industry landscape has changed, our commitment to this joint venture is as strong as ever. Even as our carriers contend with the impact of COVID-19 on our business and take steps to protect the safety of our customers and employees, we are also building the airline alliance we know they’ll want to fly in the future.”
Also commenting on Thursday’s announcement, LATAM Airlines Group’s CEO, Roberto Alvo added,“While we remain focused on navigating the COVID-19 crisis and protecting the safety and well-being of our passengers and employees, we also have to look to the future to ensure the best possible customer experience and support the long-term sustainability of the group. Our bilateral strategic alliance with Delta remains a priority and we firmly believe that it still promises to offer customers the leading travel experience and connectivity in the Americas.”
Since Delta acquired a $1.9 billion 20 percent stake in LATAM last December, the carriers have achieved several milestones as they deepen their cooperation. Codeshare agreements have been established between Delta and LATAM’s affiliates in Peru, Ecuador, Colombia and Brazil and LATAM’s affiliates in Chile and Argentina plan to ink codeshare agreements in the coming weeks. Delta SkyMiles and LATAM Pass members can now earn and redeem miles across both networks and reciprocal top-tier loyalty recognition will be implemented in June 2020. Additionally, the carriers have collocated their operations at their New York (JFK) and São Paulo (GRU) hubs for convenient connectivity. Mutual lounge access is available at the Delta Sky Club in New York (JFK) and LATAM’s lounge in Bogota (BOG) and the carriers expect to expand reciprocal lounge access across the Americas by June 2020.
Source: Delta Air Lines