Delta has made it clear that it wants a bigger piece of the Hollywood crowd’s business. What’s the best way to do it? Start acting like a Hollywood-type and get into an ugly public spat. It’s only a matter of time before the paparazzi show up, right?
The very public fight between Delta and Korean has continued to escalate. The only question is… will they reconcile or are they headed to splitsville?
The fight apparently began when Delta tried to push its SkyTeam partner into joining a joint venture. It’s believed Korean wasn’t interested. So, as the story goes, Delta started to react.
The first public display of problems came when Delta announced that no travel on Korean Air-marketed flights would earn elite qualifying miles or bonus miles. Considering Korean Air is a founding member of SkyTeam and one of the largest foreign airlines operating in the US, this was a big deal. But travelers could still book a Delta codeshare on Korean flights and get their elite-qualifying miles.
There was one problem with that scheme. Buying a ticket on the Delta codeshare was often more expensive than booking directly with Korean. So it was hard to justify paying more just for the miles. But don’t worry about that. The airlines have gone and fixed that problem for us.
No, no. They didn’t equalize fares. They just started to unwind the codeshare so you don’t have a choice.
Korean started things off earlier this summer by pulling its code off of 97 Delta routes within the Americas. So you could fly from Seoul to Atlanta on Korean but you couldn’t connect on to, say, Ft Lauderdale on a Korean code. Most of the cities affected (59, in fact) were out of Atlanta, but there were also cuts in other hubs. This may seem surprising considering that Korean is ramping up in Atlanta with an A380 and has a lot of seats to fill, but I guess the time had come to fire a warning shot.
Delta upped the game even further. On August 21, it was revealed that Delta would begin flying from Seattle to Incheon every day beginning next June. That fits with Delta’s Seattle growth strategy, but it’s quite a poke at Korean and its daily flight in the very same market.
But why wait all the way until next June to start inflicting pain? At the same time this was announced, Delta cut some of its own codesharing on Korean. As of last week, you can no longer buy a Delta ticket on the Korean Air flights to Incheon from west coast markets. That means no Delta seats from LA, Vegas, San Francisco, or Seattle, and that means no elite qualifying miles if you fly those routes. [Update: Delta called me to confirm that the pulling of the codeshare this early was a mistake and it has been reinstated until June when the Seattle flight start.]
Now we just have to sit here and wait to see what’s next. Maybe these two need their own reality show. Or we could get Dr Phil to sit down with them and solve their problems on a primetime special.
One thing is clear. Delta can certainly benefit from Korean’s network, and I can understand why they’d want a joint venture. Meanwhile, Korean is huge in the US and should also want to benefit from Delta’s loyal base and connecting options. When both sides receive clear benefits from a relationship, you can only hope that they come to their sense and resolve their issues. But as we know, these fights don’t always end the way they should.
[Original taekwondo photo via Shutterstock]
40 comments on “Delta and Korean Escalate Their Fight”
Oneworld should call them up… AA just started flying from DFW to ICN right?
Would JL allow KE in Oneworld? I had assumed that because JL was already there and Asiana was in Star that DL felt KE had nowhere else to go and that was why they were putting on the pressure.
JL + KE = NH + OZ, right? ;-)
Actually, more accurately:
JL + KE < NH + OZ + CA + BR
Also remember that currently it's:
OW: JL
ST: KE + CI
*A: NH + OZ + CA + BR
Technically you have CX and MH on the OW side, but they're getting pretty far south for gateway to Asia style flying. CZ is pretty far south and has one TPAC flight.
Ah… So why do either of them bother with SkyTeam?
Has Korean started to codeshare with B6? I am booked with Korean out of JFK to MNL via ICN, but to get to JFK from FLL, I was placed on B6. On the return, I fly thru ICN to ATL, then connect to MIA on AA. I haven’t put my Korean Skypass number on these flights so I am wondering if I need to enroll in different programs again.
KE began to not sell any tickets combined with Delta’s domestic flights since 1 or 2 months ago.
Delta actually revived codeshare on west coast to ICN routes until early June 2014, until when SEA-ICN begins with its metal. Delta claims it was a minor technical error.
TC99 – No, Korean has a standard interline agreement with JetBlue. It’s just that JetBlue makes a big deal out of those kinds of arrangements while most airlines don’t. Korean is not a partner with TrueBlue so you can’t earn miles on JetBlue flights.
hk – Thanks for noting that. Still seems rather silly that they’ll do away with it in June. You can fly with one stop to Seoul from LA or SF today on Delta via Tokyo. The introduction of the Seattle flight shouldn’t change anything.
Cranky, Delta discontinued their Tokyo-Seoul flight in June 2013, so you can’t fly them one-stop from the west coast without using KE metal (or going way out of the way via Detroit) until SEA-ICN starts.
Alex – Thanks for pointing that out. So I guess they’ll just keep the codeshare out there until they can fly it on their own metal. Of course, who is going to want to connect through Seattle if you could go nonstop instead? (Only those who are miles addicts, I suppose!)
Why is Korean not wanting to get into a JV with Delta? Beyond HA and AS it doesn’t seem that they have any other links to US carriers.
Also, I wonder if DL’s A330 purchase plays into this? From what I’ve heard these A330s are ideal for Pacific flights. If DL isn’t going to have a JV with Korean they’ll need more lift of their own over the Pacific.
Nick – I wish I was a fly on the wall in those conversations. My guess is that Korean thinks it can earn more money on its own with its own flights instead of splitting revenue with Delta across the board.
“Delta can certainly benefit from Korean?s network, and I can understand why they?d want a joint venture. Meanwhile, Korean is huge in the US and should also want to benefit from Delta?s loyal base and connecting options.”
Are any numbers available on how many people actually connect between DL and KE in ICN?
For domestic Korean flights, sure, but if flying to other international cities, I’m not sure if KE through ICN actually is necessary. The most important cities in Asia have DL service anyways; within China there is MU and CZ serving many more cities than KE; for Japan it would be faster to take a train or connect to a domestic flight from NRT (or NGO or KIX) than backtrack through Korea; most of SE Asia would be easier by connecting to a non-ST airline in BKK or SIN such as Air Asia.
The connectivity through ICN seems like a nice idea and I’m sure some people took advantage of it, but I wouldn’t be surprised if this actually didn’t impact most US-Asia traffic at all.
Jason H – I don’t have those numbers. International information isn’t made publicly available the same way domestic is. There are some data sources that can probably help but I don’t have those.
I imagine the bulk of DL/KE connecting traffic connects in the US.
Be that as it may, ICN is ideally located for connecting to Asia from the US. It helps to look at a globe. US flights come into ICN from the North, actually around the West side of North Korea. From there, the secondary Japanese population centers are to the Southeast (Osaka, Fukuoka, Kagoshima, etc.), and the bulk of the Chinese cities are to the Southwest. With KE serving about two dozed Chinese airports, why would I ever want to subject myself to CZ or MU? KE also has a very comprehensive network across South Asia, much more than anyone else in Asia, except maybe CX. And much of KE’s South Asia network leaves ICN in the late afternoon and evening, timing well with arriving flights from the US. Perhaps surprisingly, both JL and NH have rather paltry Asian networks beyond Japan.
Put KE’s network together with an awesome airport that’s a breeze to connect through (Gate to Security to Transit Desk to Gate in less than 30 minutes, both DL-KE and KE-DL) and you have an awesome gateway to Asia.
oops..dozen Chinese airports, not dozed.
Will someone tell the children to get out of the sandbox and stop fighting.
Since Star is so well covered in Asia over Oneworld and Skyteam, you would think DL wouldn’t be ticking off KE so much.
Perhaps this is the future of the large global alliances, or the unbundling of those alliances. As the legacy network carriers get healthier and purchase newer aircraft, they will be able to provide their own Trans Atlantic and Trans Pacific lift and not have to share revenue with the global alliance carriers.
Perhaps this indicates the future of the large global alliances…or the unbundling of those relationships. As the legacy network carriers get healthier, they can buy new aircraft and provide their own t ATL and t PAC lift rather than share the revenue with carriers like Korean.
It may more more difficult to track but I wonder if KE has cut their award availability with Delta awards. I tried to book some seats recently and saw almost no availability.
I’m glad to see someone had the stones to stand up and tell Delta to pound sand.One simply does not demand a JV with a founding member of your alliance like they are a second tier carrier.Yes, I know DL is also a founding member, but that still doesn’t change their bully tactics backfiring in their faces.
Good.
Actually, Korean has very little to gain/lose from the alliance, but DL has a lot to gain/lose. KE already has extensive through-fare agreements with all the US airlines: if you fly KE in/out of ORD, you can take AA or UA to almost any city they serve, all with a KE throughfare at dirt cheap prices. The same scenario is repeated all over the US.
Here are some permissible routings on various routes on KE through-fares. I chose the first three I thought of at random. It looks like they’ve scaled back (or eliminated) domestic UA flights since I was actively working as a TA, but my point remains, especially for that last city pair, my goodness.
ICT-CNX – $1032 RT base
1. ICT-AA-CHI-SEL-CNX
2. ICT-DL-MSP-DL-CHI-SEL-CNX
3. ICT-AA-DFW-SEL-CNX
4. ICT-DL-DFW-SEL-CNX
SBN-SIN – $1074 RT base
1. SBN-DL-ATL-SEL-BKK-TG-SIN
2. SBN-DL-ATL-SEL-HKG-CX/SQ-SIN
3. SBN-DL-ATL-SEL-KUL-MH-SIN
4. SBN-DL-ATL-SEL-KUL-SQ-SIN
5. SBN-DL-ATL-SEL-SIN
6. SBN-DL-CVG-DL-CHI-SEL-BKK-TG-SIN
7. SBN-DL-CVG-DL-CHI-SEL-HKG-CX/SQ-SIN
8. SBN-DL-CVG-DL-CHI-SEL-KUL-MH-SIN
9. SBN-DL-CVG-DL-CHI-SEL-KUL-SQ-SIN
10. SBN-DL-CVG-DL-CHI-SEL-SIN
11. SBN-DL-DTT-DL-CHI-SEL-BKK-TG-SIN
12. SBN-DL-DTT-DL-CHI-SEL-HKG-CX/SQ-SIN
13. SBN-DL-DTT-DL-CHI-SEL-KUL-MH-SIN
14. SBN-DL-DTT-DL-CHI-SEL-KUL-SQ-SIN
15. SBN-DL-DTT-DL-CHI-SEL-SIN
16. SBN-DL-DTT-SEL-BKK-TG-SIN
17. SBN-DL-DTT-SEL-HKG-CX/SQ-SIN
18. SBN-DL-DTT-SEL-KUL-MH-SIN
19. SBN-DL-DTT-SEL-KUL-SQ-SIN
20. SBN-DL-DTT-SEL-SIN
CLT-HKG – $980 RT base fare
1. CLT-AA-CHI-SEL-HKG
2. CLT-AA-CHI-SEL-PUS-HKG
3. CLT-AA-DFW-SEL-HKG
4. CLT-AA-DFW-SEL-PUS-HKG
5. CLT-AA-NYC-SEL-HKG
6. CLT-AA-NYC-SEL-PUS-HKG
7. CLT-AA/US-DFW-SEL-BKK-9W/AI-DEL-AI-HKG
8. CLT-AA/US-DFW-SEL-BKK-PG-RGN-PG/TG-HKG
9. CLT-AA/US-DFW-SEL-BKK-TG-DEL-AI-HKG
10. CLT-AA/US-DFW-SEL-BKK-TG-KUL-CI-HKG
11. CLT-AA/US-DFW-SEL-BKK-TG-RGN-PG/TG-HKG
12. CLT-AA/US-DFW-SEL-BKK-TG-SIN-CX/SQ-HKG
13. CLT-AA/US-DFW-SEL-BKK-VN-HAN-CX/VN-HKG
14. CLT-AA/US-DFW-SEL-BOM-9W-DEL-AI-HKG
15. CLT-AA/US-DFW-SEL-HKG
16. CLT-AA/US-DFW-SEL-HKG-8M-RGN-PG/TG-HKG
17. CLT-AA/US-DFW-SEL-HKG-AI-DEL-AI-HKG
18. CLT-AA/US-DFW-SEL-HKG-CI-JKT/KUL-CI-HKG
19. CLT-AA/US-DFW-SEL-HKG-CI-SIN-CX/SQ-HKG
20. CLT-AA/US-DFW-SEL-JKT/KUL-CI-HKG
21. CLT-AA/US-DFW-SEL-KUL-MH-SIN-CX/SQ-HKG
22. CLT-AA/US-DFW-SEL-KUL-SQ-SIN-CX/SQ-HKG
23. CLT-AA/US-DFW-SEL-PUS-HKG
24. CLT-AA/US-DFW-SEL-SIN-AI-DEL-AI-HKG
25. CLT-AA/US-DFW-SEL-SIN-CX/SQ-HKG
26. CLT-AA/US-DFW-SEL-SIN-GA-JKT-CI-HKG
27. CLT-AA/US-DFW-SEL-SIN-SQ-DEL-AI-HKG
28. CLT-AC-YTO-SEL-HKG
29. CLT-AC-YTO-SEL-PUS-HKG
30. CLT-B6-NYC-SEL-HKG
31. CLT-B6-NYC-SEL-PUS-HKG
32. CLT-DL-ATL-SEL-BKK-9W/AI-DEL-AI-HKG
33. CLT-DL-ATL-SEL-BKK-PG-RGN-PG/TG-HKG
34. CLT-DL-ATL-SEL-BKK-TG-DEL-AI-HKG
35. CLT-DL-ATL-SEL-BKK-TG-KUL-CI-HKG
36. CLT-DL-ATL-SEL-BKK-TG-RGN-PG/TG-HKG
37. CLT-DL-ATL-SEL-BKK-TG-SIN-CX/SQ-HKG
38. CLT-DL-ATL-SEL-BKK-VN-HAN-CX/VN-HKG
39. CLT-DL-ATL-SEL-BOM-9W-DEL-AI-HKG
40. CLT-DL-ATL-SEL-HKG
41. CLT-DL-ATL-SEL-HKG-8M-RGN-PG/TG-HKG
42. CLT-DL-ATL-SEL-HKG-AI-DEL-AI-HKG
43. CLT-DL-ATL-SEL-HKG-CI-JKT/KUL-CI-HKG
44. CLT-DL-ATL-SEL-HKG-CI-SIN-CX/SQ-HKG
45. CLT-DL-ATL-SEL-JKT/KUL-CI-HKG
46. CLT-DL-ATL-SEL-KUL-MH-SIN-CX/SQ-HKG
47. CLT-DL-ATL-SEL-KUL-SQ-SIN-CX/SQ-HKG
48. CLT-DL-ATL-SEL-PUS-HKG
49. CLT-DL-ATL-SEL-SIN-AI-DEL-AI-HKG
50. CLT-DL-ATL-SEL-SIN-CX/SQ-HKG
51. CLT-DL-ATL-SEL-SIN-GA-JKT-CI-HKG
52. CLT-DL-ATL-SEL-SIN-SQ-DEL-AI-HKG
53. CLT-DL/US-NYC-SEL-HKG
54. CLT-DL/US-NYC-SEL-PUS-HKG
55. CLT-US-ATL-SEL-BKK-9W/AI-DEL-AI-HKG
56. CLT-US-ATL-SEL-BKK-PG-RGN-PG/TG-HKG
57. CLT-US-ATL-SEL-BKK-TG-DEL-AI-HKG
58. CLT-US-ATL-SEL-BKK-TG-KUL-CI-HKG
59. CLT-US-ATL-SEL-BKK-TG-RGN-PG/TG-HKG
60. CLT-US-ATL-SEL-BKK-TG-SIN-CX/SQ-HKG
61. CLT-US-ATL-SEL-BKK-VN-HAN-CX/VN-HKG
62. CLT-US-ATL-SEL-BOM-9W-DEL-AI-HKG
63. CLT-US-ATL-SEL-HKG
64. CLT-US-ATL-SEL-HKG-8M-RGN-PG/TG-HKG
65. CLT-US-ATL-SEL-HKG-AI-DEL-AI-HKG
66. CLT-US-ATL-SEL-HKG-CI-JKT/KUL-CI-HKG
67. CLT-US-ATL-SEL-HKG-CI-SIN-CX/SQ-HKG
68. CLT-US-ATL-SEL-JKT/KUL-CI-HKG
69. CLT-US-ATL-SEL-KUL-MH-SIN-CX/SQ-HKG
70. CLT-US-ATL-SEL-KUL-SQ-SIN-CX/SQ-HKG
71. CLT-US-ATL-SEL-PUS-HKG
72. CLT-US-ATL-SEL-SIN-AI-DEL-AI-HKG
73. CLT-US-ATL-SEL-SIN-CX/SQ-HKG
74. CLT-US-ATL-SEL-SIN-GA-JKT-CI-HKG
75. CLT-US-ATL-SEL-SIN-SQ-DEL-AI-HKG
76. CLT-US-CHI-SEL-BKK-9W/AI-DEL-AI-HKG
77. CLT-US-CHI-SEL-BKK-PG-RGN-PG/TG-HKG
78. CLT-US-CHI-SEL-BKK-TG-DEL-AI-HKG
79. CLT-US-CHI-SEL-BKK-TG-KUL-CI-HKG
80. CLT-US-CHI-SEL-BKK-TG-RGN-PG/TG-HKG
81. CLT-US-CHI-SEL-BKK-TG-SIN-CX/SQ-HKG
82. CLT-US-CHI-SEL-BKK-VN-HAN-CX/VN-HKG
83. CLT-US-CHI-SEL-BOM-9W-DEL-AI-HKG
84. CLT-US-CHI-SEL-HKG
85. CLT-US-CHI-SEL-HKG-8M-RGN-PG/TG-HKG
86. CLT-US-CHI-SEL-HKG-AI-DEL-AI-HKG
87. CLT-US-CHI-SEL-HKG-CI-JKT/KUL-CI-HKG
88. CLT-US-CHI-SEL-HKG-CI-SIN-CX/SQ-HKG
89. CLT-US-CHI-SEL-JKT/KUL-CI-HKG
90. CLT-US-CHI-SEL-KUL-MH-SIN-CX/SQ-HKG
91. CLT-US-CHI-SEL-KUL-SQ-SIN-CX/SQ-HKG
92. CLT-US-CHI-SEL-PUS-HKG
93. CLT-US-CHI-SEL-SIN-AI-DEL-AI-HKG
94. CLT-US-CHI-SEL-SIN-CX/SQ-HKG
95. CLT-US-CHI-SEL-SIN-GA-JKT-CI-HKG
96. CLT-US-CHI-SEL-SIN-SQ-DEL-AI-HKG
97. CLT-US-DFW-SEL-HKG
98. CLT-US-DFW-SEL-PUS-HKG
99. CLT-US-DTT-SEL-HKG
100. CLT-US-DTT-SEL-PUS-HKG
101. CLT-US-LAX-SEL-HKG
102. CLT-US-LAX-SEL-PUS-HKG
103. CLT-US-NYC-SEL-BKK-9W/AI-DEL-AI-HKG
104. CLT-US-NYC-SEL-BKK-PG-RGN-PG/TG-HKG
105. CLT-US-NYC-SEL-BKK-TG-DEL-AI-HKG
106. CLT-US-NYC-SEL-BKK-TG-KUL-CI-HKG
107. CLT-US-NYC-SEL-BKK-TG-RGN-PG/TG-HKG
108. CLT-US-NYC-SEL-BKK-TG-SIN-CX/SQ-HKG
109. CLT-US-NYC-SEL-BKK-VN-HAN-CX/VN-HKG
110. CLT-US-NYC-SEL-BOM-9W-DEL-AI-HKG
111. CLT-US-NYC-SEL-HKG
112. CLT-US-NYC-SEL-HKG-8M-RGN-PG/TG-HKG
113. CLT-US-NYC-SEL-HKG-AI-DEL-AI-HKG
114. CLT-US-NYC-SEL-HKG-CI-JKT/KUL-CI-HKG
115. CLT-US-NYC-SEL-HKG-CI-SIN-CX/SQ-HKG
116. CLT-US-NYC-SEL-JKT/KUL-CI-HKG
117. CLT-US-NYC-SEL-KUL-MH-SIN-CX/SQ-HKG
118. CLT-US-NYC-SEL-KUL-SQ-SIN-CX/SQ-HKG
119. CLT-US-NYC-SEL-SIN-AI-DEL-AI-HKG
120. CLT-US-NYC-SEL-SIN-CX/SQ-HKG
121. CLT-US-NYC-SEL-SIN-GA-JKT-CI-HKG
122. CLT-US-NYC-SEL-SIN-SQ-DEL-AI-HKG
123. CLT-US-SEA-SEL-HKG
124. CLT-US-SEA-SEL-PUS-HKG
125. CLT-US-WAS-SEL-BKK-9W/AI-DEL-AI-HKG
126. CLT-US-WAS-SEL-BKK-PG-RGN-PG/TG-HKG
127. CLT-US-WAS-SEL-BKK-TG-DEL-AI-HKG
128. CLT-US-WAS-SEL-BKK-TG-KUL-CI-HKG
129. CLT-US-WAS-SEL-BKK-TG-RGN-PG/TG-HKG
130. CLT-US-WAS-SEL-BKK-TG-SIN-CX/SQ-HKG
131. CLT-US-WAS-SEL-BKK-VN-HAN-CX/VN-HKG
132. CLT-US-WAS-SEL-BOM-9W-DEL-AI-HKG
133. CLT-US-WAS-SEL-HKG
134. CLT-US-WAS-SEL-HKG-8M-RGN-PG/TG-HKG
135. CLT-US-WAS-SEL-HKG-AI-DEL-AI-HKG
136. CLT-US-WAS-SEL-HKG-CI-JKT/KUL-CI-HKG
137. CLT-US-WAS-SEL-HKG-CI-SIN-CX/SQ-HKG
138. CLT-US-WAS-SEL-JKT/KUL-CI-HKG
139. CLT-US-WAS-SEL-KUL-MH-SIN-CX/SQ-HKG
140. CLT-US-WAS-SEL-KUL-SQ-SIN-CX/SQ-HKG
141. CLT-US-WAS-SEL-PUS-HKG
142. CLT-US-WAS-SEL-SIN-AI-DEL-AI-HKG
143. CLT-US-WAS-SEL-SIN-CX/SQ-HKG
144. CLT-US-WAS-SEL-SIN-GA-JKT-CI-HKG
145. CLT-US-WAS-SEL-SIN-SQ-DEL-AI-HKG
146. CLT-US-YTO-SEL-HKG
147. CLT-US-YTO-SEL-PUS-HKG
Hans – Just because you can route people on other airlines doesn’t mean you’ll get the traffic. Airlines codeshare because those are the options that get booked more often. Korean will likely lose out on bookings to other airlines that can sell as a single code all the way through.
It doesn’t happen that way with TAs, but I guess online some people might shy away from it? It’s not like it’s really presented in a negative light on booking engines…
JL + KE = NH + OZ, right? ;-)
Actually, more accurately:
JL + KE < NH + OZ + CA + BR
Also remember that currently it's:
OW: JL
ST: KE + CI
*A: NH + OZ + CA + BR
Technically you have CX and MH on the OW side, but they're getting pretty far south for gateway to Asia style flying. CZ is pretty far south and has one TPAC flight.
ST also has MU with several Transpacific flight
CF, two questions:
(1) who do you think will cave?
(2) who do you think should cave (as in whose demands are more unreasonable)?
Curious to hear your thoughts!
myra – I’m afraid I don’t know the answers. I don’t know what the demands are on each side. Maybe Delta is asking for too much in a joint venture conversation. Or maybe Korean really doesn’t see the value. Only people on the inside could answer that.
well then i guess we’ll have to just wait and see what happens. thanks for keeping us updated on this deliciously (and disgustingly) soapy drama!!
According to Delta’s homepage, customers flying on KE marketing cannot earn Elite/MQM from 1Sep13. Then, is that true we can still get miles from Delta on KE marketing flights?
Ashley – Yes, you can still get regular flown miles on higher Korean fare classes. For full details, go here:
http://www.delta.com/content/www/en_US/skymiles/earn-miles/earn-miles-with-partners/airlines/korean-air.html
I am sorry but I guess the hyperlink you’ve attached is applied for travel prior to September 1, 2013. They say there is no miles for KE marketing flights on/after 1September. Could you please check? Thanks.
Ashley – You just have to scroll down to see the table for flights after Sept 1. And you do earn miles on high classes, as shown.
To clarify – you still earn miles, but not elite qualifying miles. Granted, it looks like DL cut the MQM down to 50% for eligible coach fares, so there was somewhat of a cut already. The biggest hit would be the business and first class cabin ticket buyers.
What. A. Mess. DL’s newest transpacific hub flow is almost completely controlled by an airline in bed with AA over which DL has no control, DL and KE are fighting over a network where DL has little leverage, ATL/DTW are tapped out to Asia, NRT is sliding down a long decline, and DL has shown little interest in JFK-Asia.
White smoke?
DELTA Resumes Korean Air Seoul ? US West Coast Codeshare Service from Sep 2013
by JL
Update at 0600GMT 06SEP13
As per 06SEP13 GDS timetable/inventory dispaly, DELTA has resumed codeshare service with Korean Air on US West Coast ? Seoul Incheon sectors, at least until 01JUN14 inclusive. DELTA?s ?DL? code once again appears on following Korean Air service during (the weekend of) 01SEP13 schedule update.
Seoul Incheon ? Las Vegas
Seoul Incheon ? Los Angeles
Seoul Incheon ? San Francisco
Seoul Incheon ? Seattle
DELTA removed its ?DL? code on routes listed above during (the weekend of) 24/25AUG13 schedule update, with ?last codeshare service? operated on 28AUG13.
Delta is making good money and they know they have a good product, but their growing arrogance is going to bite them. There is only so much customers will take getting caught up in these games.
Hi Cranky,
I just learned of this post through Rapid Travel Chai.
Perhaps the tension between Korean Air and Delta explains why there is virtually no award availability whatsoever on KE flights using Delta Skymiles, something I find extremely frustrating. This has been the case now for at least half a year.
What do you think? Has anyone been able to find any business class availability on any KE flight for the next year? Should I kiss goodbye the possibility of Delta award redemptions on KE?
Craig – If you’re flexible enough, you should be able to find some availability but it’s not as easy as it used to be. I doubt award availability is directly tied to this spat, but an expansion of rules preventing good redemption opportunities wouldn’t surprise me in the future.