Things in the Sky

Well, I found this one interesting, to be sure. What’s the significance of the fact that it’s the Virgin Blue Gorup, not just Virgin Blue? Well, now V Australia gets thrown into the mix (apparently they’ve had an interline agreement with Delta for awhile.)

From the press release:

The alliance will allow Delta and the Virgin Blue Airlines Group to compete more effectively in those markets by collaborating on route and product planning, codesharing on their respective networks and extending frequent flyer program benefits and lounge access to customers of both airlines.

When I read of the partnership, my first thought was the LAX-SYD route, which has long been only served by Qantas and United. Now, V Australia and Delta have added their own flights on 777s (777-300ER for the former, 777-200LR for the latter). The way I see it, if this gets approved the number of competitors on the route essentially drops down from four to three. Virgin Blue CEO Brett Godfrey was quoted in the release, saying that “the alliance of two new entrant operators will ensure that vital competition is sustained on the trans-Pacific route.”

Another thing worth considering is V Australia’s current partnership with Virgin America. Right now, it seems that V Australia is using them when possible. For example, when I made a booking from Memphis the V Australia website showed Delta options, but when I tried to make a booking from Boston the website only returned Virgin America options.

I did ask Abby Lunardini in Virgin America’s corporate communications office about this new partnership, and here’s what she wrote:

I don’t know specifics – but these types of partnerships do not preclude other airlines from forming additional linkages. As you know this is very common in the airline industry.

But this agreement works well for Delta if Virgin Blue’s flights are thrown into the mix. Right now, this region gets served by oneworld (Qantas) and Star (Air New Zealand), but there’s nothing from SkyTeam right now, so those domestic flights would be great for Delta, I think. I’m not saying this means that Virgin Blue wants to move to SkyTeam, but it would be cool, right? The agreement with Delta also helps out Virgin here – even though no specifics were mentioned in the release, obviously Delta has much more domestic reach than Virgin America.

Anyway, interesting stuff. I wonder how this agreement will affect Qantas and United, and there’s still the argument that the LAX-SYD route still has too much capacity. I guess we’ll have to see what happens.