Alitalia (AZA, Rome Fiumicino) CEO Silvano Cassano says his airline has opened negotiations with partner, Delta Air Lines (DL, Atlanta Hartsfield Jackson), over proposed changes to the terms of their transatlantic partnership. In 2010, Alitalia joined fellow Skyteam members Air France-KLM and Delta in their transatlantic joint-venture which covers flights between Canada, the United States, Mexico and Europe, as well as routes linking Amsterdam Schiphol to India, and North America and Tahiti.
However, during the unveiling of the Italian flag carrier's revised livery in Milan last week, Cassano told the Italian press that plans to expand into the key North and South American markets were being hampered by the restrictive terms and conditions of its agreement with its US partner.
"We're in talks with Delta because agreements signed in the past require them to approve our opening up of new routes," he was quoted by the Corriere della Sera newspaper. "We are planning to develop San Francisco, México City International, and Santiago de Chile but to do so, we first have to go through an extremely circuitous process of approval."
Given a lack of progress in their negotiations, Alitalia has already informed Air France-KLM Royal Dutch Airlines that it will not be renewing their partnership agreements when they expire in January 2017 as in the Italians' opinion, the terms were no longer beneficial, either commercially or strategically, to their future plans.
"So, while we have already informed Air France(-KLM) of the cancellation of our agreement, at the same time, we are also renegotiating certain contractual clauses with Delta which will permit us to control our own destiny," Cassano ended.
Etihad Airways (EY, Abu Dhabi International) acquired a 49% stake in Alitalia for EUR1.76 billion in August last year thereby giving it significant say in the Italian airline's operations and longterm strategy through Chief Planning and Strategy Officer, John Shepley.
