Delta Air Lines (DL, Atlanta Hartsfield Jackson) chief executive Ed Bastian has told Air Transport World that the carrier is currently considering adding Mexican partner Aeroméxico (AM, México City International) to its transatlantic joint venture. Bastian made the comments at a media event to unveil the carrier's new A350-900s
Delta currently enjoys a joint venture with Skyteam partners Air France (AF, Paris CDG), KLM Royal Dutch Airlines (KL, Amsterdam Schiphol) and Alitalia (AZA, Rome Fiumicino) on transatlantic services between North America and Europe. It owns a stake of more than 36% in AeroMéxico which currently operates outside the joint venture.
Bastian said AeroMéxico could become a "second tier" joint venture member. The Mexican carrier currently operates five daily non-stop services from México City to Amsterdam Schiphol, London Heathrow, Madrid Barajas (11x weekly) and Paris CDG using its fleet of B787-8s and B787-9s, according to ch-aviation analysis of schedule data.
Air France serves Cancún four times weekly (using B777-300(ER)s) and México City daily (using A380-800s), both from its Charles de Gaulle base. KLM operates daily between Amsterdam and the Mexican capital using B747-400(M) aircraft while Alitalia operates three weekly B777-200(ER) services linking Rome's Fiumicino airport with México City.
