Guest Posted July 20, 2018 Share Posted July 20, 2018 Quote Delta and WestJet to Create New Transborder Joint Venture Français News provided by WESTJET, an Alberta Partnership Jul 19, 2018, 16:30 ET Share this article U.S./Canada joint venture to offer more choices for travel between the U.S. and Canada ATLANTA and CALGARY, July 19, 2018 /CNW/ - Delta Air Lines (NYSE: DAL) and WestJet (TSX: WJA) have signed a definitive agreement to create a comprehensive transborder joint venture arrangement that will offer customers an extensive route network within the U.S. and Canada. "Delta's future is global and together with WestJet, we can augment the two airlines' capabilities and bring together our strengths in this important trans-border market," said Ed Bastian, Delta's CEO. "Combined, we will be able to offer more destinations to customers with an integrated network, superior airline products, improved airport connections and significantly enhanced frequent flyer benefits. The JV will provide an unmatched passenger experience for customers travelling between the U.S. and Canada." "WestJet continues its drive toward becoming a global airline, and the signing of this agreement marks a major milestone in that journey," said Ed Sims, WestJet President and CEO. "Working together with Delta, the premier U.S. carrier, we are looking forward to providing enhanced offerings and more choice for guests. The joint venture will allow us to maximize our existing partnership with Delta to benefit customers by bringing greater competition to the trans-border market." The agreement deepens the existing codeshare partnership between the carriers and follows the signing of a memorandum of understanding in December 2017 announcing the intention to form a joint venture. The joint venture will provide substantial reach into Canada and the U.S. with transborder service to more than 30 cities covering over 95 per cent of U.S.-Canada demand, providing customers of both airlines with more travel choices than ever before. The new JV will also enable Delta and WestJet to compete more effectively against other carriers. Upon receipt of regulatory approvals in Canada and the U.S., Delta and WestJet will work together to implement all aspects of the enhanced cooperation including expanded codesharing, more closely aligned frequent flyer program and reciprocal elite benefits, joint growth across their U.S./Canada transborder network, and co-location at key hubs with more seamless passenger and baggage transit. The agreement will also include the ability to cooperate on cargo accompanying passenger flights as well as corporate contracts. Delta has a strong track record of partnering with airlines around the globe, in Europe, Latin America, Asia, Australia and now Canada. These joint ventures connect complementary networks, allowing the carriers to expand service options, add more convenient connections, and provide a more seamless customer experience than would otherwise have been possible. As WestJet continues its global transformation, its airline partners connect the growing WestJet network to an extensive list of international destinations. WestJet has one of the youngest fleets in the airline industry and continues to provide award-winning guest experience, recently being named Canada's Best Airline by TripAdvisor and North America's Best Low-Cost Airline 2018 by Skytrax. Further information about Delta Air Lines and WestJet is available at delta.com and westjet.com. Delta and WestJet finalise planned joint venture 19 July, 2018 SOURCE: Flight Dashboard BY: Edward Russell Washington DC Delta Air Lines and WestJet have finalised a joint venture agreement, as they move towards closer cooperation between Canada and the USA. The agreement will expand on the carriers' codeshare agreement and allow them to jointly coordinate schedules and plan growth, co-locate at key airports, provide reciprocal frequent flier benefits, and cooperate on cargo operations, Delta and WestJet say in a joint statement on 19 July. "Delta's future is global and together with WestJet, we can augment the two airlines' capabilities and bring together our strengths in this important trans-border market," says Ed Bastian, chief executive of Delta. The immunised partnership will be the Atlanta-based carrier's sixth joint venture with a foreign carrier, the latest being a tie up with Korean Air that began in May. "WestJet continues its drive toward becoming a global airline, and the signing of this agreement marks a major milestone in that journey," says Ed Sims, president and chief executive of WestJet. "The joint venture will allow us to maximise our existing partnership with Delta to benefit customers by bringing greater competition to the trans-border market." Delta and WestJet serve 63 trans-border markets, connecting 11 airports in Canada with 26 in the USA in July, FlightGlobal schedules show. Delta and WestJet's combined trans-border network, July 2018 FlightGlobal schedules The airlines combined have a 24.2% share of Canada-USA capacity in July, schedules show. This is second to Air Canada's 50.7% share of capacity, and ahead of United Airlines' 12.3% share. Delta and WestJet plan to file for antitrust approval in both Canada and the USA within the next month, and hope for a decision within a year, says WestJet. Sims told FlightGlobal in April that WestJet hoped for approval by the end of 2018, pending a mid-year application to regulatory authorities. The agreement follows a memorandum of understanding to form a joint venture between Delta and WestJet in December 2017. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted July 25, 2018 Share Posted July 25, 2018 Quote ANALYSIS: Delta and WestJet raise stakes in Canada-US market 24 July, 2018 SOURCE: Flight Dashboard BY: Edward Russell Washington DC Delta Air Lines and WestJet have finalised their planned joint venture, a pact that is expected to bring benefits to both carriers. The partnership will allow the airlines to co-ordinate schedules and fares, jointly market and sell flights and provide other commercial benefits if approved by regulators in Canada and the USA. It would be the first such venture in the market, following on from Delta's successful tie-up with Aeromexico. "Delta's future is global and together with WestJet, we can augment the two airlines' capabilities and bring together our strengths in this important transborder market," says Ed Bastian, chief executive of Delta. "Combined, we will be able to offer more destinations to customers with an integrated network, superior airline products, improved airport connections and significantly enhanced frequent flyer benefits." Close X The partnership will bring together the second- and fourth-largest carriers between Canada and the USA. Delta carried 11.3% of passengers and WestJet 16.9% during the year ending in January – a joint 28.2% market share – the latest US Department of Transportation traffic data shows. Only Air Canada has a larger share, carrying 43.9% of passengers over the period, the data shows. United Airlines was third, between WestJet and Delta, with a 12.2% share. US DOT During the year ending in January, Delta grew its Canada-USA capacity by 8.2%, while WestJet achieved 4.8% growth year on year, FlightGlobal schedules data shows. New routes include New York LaGuardia-Ottawa on Delta, and Montreal-Boston and Toronto-Nashville on WestJet. However, Air Canada's growth eclipsed both carriers, with capacity in the market up by 10.5% during the period, according to schedules. The combined clout of Delta and WestJet, plus their individual sales reach in their respective countries, should allow them to grow further, and potentially capture a larger joint share of Canada-US traffic. MUTUAL BENEFITS The joint venture checks boxes for both Delta and WestJet. It continues Delta's strategy of global growth through deeper partnerships and not necessarily its own metal, and helps WestJet fulfil its ambitions to become a more global carrier. "Delta really doesn't have a lot of exposure to Canada relative to what it would like to have, and WestJet hasn't expanded as aggressively into the USA as maybe it was thinking it would," says Helane Becker, an analyst at Cowen, in an interview with FlightGlobal. She cites the collapse in oil prices in 2014 and subsequent slump in the Alberta economy, where WestJet is based, for the Canadian carrier's slower-than-expected US growth. In addition, WestJet's global ambitions, which include its order for 10 Boeing 787-9s in May 2017, will be buoyed by its closer integration with Delta's global network, which spans six continents. Delta and WestJet serve 63 transborder markets, connecting 11 airports in Canada with 26 in the USA as of July 2018, schedules show. Combined Delta-WestJet transborder network, July 2018 FlightGlobal schedules However, their network remains well behind that of market leader Air Canada in July. Air Canada transborder network, July 2018 FlightGlobal schedules The partnership will give Delta the most extensive North American network spanning Canada, Mexico and the USA when coupled with its Aeromexico joint venture. No other single carrier in the region, including Air Canada, American Airlines and United, can replicate the network. "It gives Delta a really strong presence in North America," says Becker. AIR CANADA-UNITED? The Delta-WestJet pact may be the impetus that Air Canada and United need to renew their joint venture ambitions. The Star Alliance carriers sought an immunised pact in 2012. However, the conditions placed on the proposed partnership by the Canadian regulator were considered too onerous and the venture was dropped. "We think there are opportunities for us to get closer in the transborder [market]," said Calin Rovinescu, chief executive of Air Canada, on its United codeshare in an interview with FlightGlobal in June 2017. While he spoke before the Delta-WestJet partnership was announced, he accurately noted that competition in the Canada-US market had increased since 2012, improving the likelihood of antitrust approval. Air Canada and United carried a combined 56.1% of passengers between Canada and the USA during the year ending in January, DOT data shows. United vice-president of domestic network planning Ankit Gupta, responding to questions on its capacity cuts to Canada, said in June that the carrier plans to "build that [network] back". He did not comment on a potential Air Canada tie-up. The Chicago-based carrier's transborder capacity will be down by nearly one-third this year compared with 2014, its peak in the market since 2010, schedules show. "I think with new administrations in Canada and the USA, and new managements at both companies, you've got a rethinking of what they're intending to do," says Becker on the possibility of a renewed Air Canada-United pact. United declines to comment, and Air Canada did not respond to requests for comment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.