In one of the most astounding comments by one airline about another recently, Delta officials are quoted in the Wall Street Journal as registering opposition to the proposed Lufthansa/JetBlue code-sharing agreement. They have noted the possibility of “competitive mischief” if the deal goes through.
That Delta Air Lines response is right on target, from my point of view. My trepidations about airline alliances and the resulting oligopoly that is being created by blindly approving alliance after alliance with stronger and stronger international marketing clauses have been made clear. These alliances will suck competition from the transatlantic market and will allow the alliance airlines to operate as a single airline with coordinated international flights.
In the long run, this will not be good for consumers. The only winners will be the airlines who are now allowed to collude on international issues … legally.
Delta is perhaps the poster child for alliance mischief. It has one of the coziest relationships of any airline with a foreign carrier in their joint venture with Air France-KLM. Here is an airline that certainly understands “competitive mischief” and has engaged in as much as possible. In fact rumblings from some Air France staff see this Delta/Air France-KLM joint venture taking over the entire international operation.
United/US Airways/Lufthansa are adding Continental to their Star Alliance mix, which will add more consolidation in terms of competitive airlines. Continental flies its international routes from Newark, so the JetBlue codeshare makes sense from Lufthansa’s point of view because it gives them a strong partner at JFK airport where Delta has their biggest international hub.
If anything, having Lufthansa/JetBlue with a strong presence at JFK for international flights will serve as a brake against the current transatlantic flight line-up of Delta and Air France.
For the record: Lufthansa owns 19 percent of JetBlue. There is more than simply a code-share relationship here.
Charlie Leocha is the President of Travelers United. He has been working in Washington, DC, for the past 14 years with Congress, the Department of Transportation, and industry stakeholders on travel issues. He was the first consumer representative to the Advisory Committee for Aviation Consumer Protections appointed by the Secretary of Transportation from 2012 through 2018.
