Delta has secured approval from the U.S. Department of Transportation for its new joint venture with LATAM – the largest airline in Latin America. The agreement will provide customers of both airlines access to more than 300 destinations between the U.S./Canada and Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Paraguay, Peru and Uruguay, while also enabling the partners to work together to provide the best schedules and advance their sustainability goals.

The upcoming partnership with LATAM will be Delta’s fourth active joint venture across the globe and second in the Americas; Delta also has a joint cooperation agreement with Aeromexico. These sit alongside Delta’s European partnership with Air France, KLM and Virgin Atlantic and its joint venture in the Asia-Pacific with Korean Air. Pre-pandemic, Delta achieved record international growth through both its own resources and its global partner network, which helps the airline – and its customers – reach places they couldn’t via Delta’s network alone.

Global Partners

Delta and LATAM are cleared for plans to develop unparalleled network connecting the Americas

With a shared ethos of the highest levels of customer service, here are five reasons Delta partners with like-minded carriers around the world:

1. More choice of destinations

Delta’s partnerships enable customers to reach every corner of the globe, with a choice of more than 275 destinations on six continents. Recent route additions include the restoration of U.S.-Korea service. Delta also flies routes, including nonstop to Paris from Raleigh-Durham and Cincinnati, which would not be possible without the support of partners such as Air France and KLM.

2. Coordinated schedules for flights when you want to travel

By aligning their schedules, Delta and its partners can offer more frequency throughout the day to ensure there are convenient flights when customers want to travel. This includes four flights a day between Atlanta and Paris from mid-afternoon to late at night. Connecting the airlines’ hubs in this way also improves onward connection choices for a fast and smooth onward journey to a customer’s final destination.

3. More chances to earn and redeem loyalty points

Delta is focused on delivering benefits for customers through initiatives that include loyalty reciprocity. Every time a customer of Delta or its partners books a flight, they can earn and redeem miles for their journey, helping them move up SkyMiles tiers more quickly. Customers in elite tiers can also use their status to access priority lines at the airport for check-in and boarding as well as partner airport lounges.

4. A better airport experience

Delta’s operations are located in the same terminal as its partners in nine key U.S. hubs and 11 international partner hubs, making connections as seamless as possible. Having Delta check-in counters, customer service desks and departure gates next to a partner airline in the same terminal not only offers more effective signage and improved wayfinding for customers when connecting from one flight to another, it also ensures that there are teams on hand to assist if needed.

Flight connection times can also be reduced when airlines are in the same terminal, providing more onward flight options. For example, at Incheon International Airport in Seoul, Delta is in the state-of-the-art Terminal 2 alongside Korean Air, Air France and KLM, allowing a customer to connect in just 45 minutes to more than 80 onward destinations in Asia.

5. Shared technology for a smoother journey

Customers traveling on partner flights can check in using either airline’s app, smoothing the journey and avoiding the need to download multiple apps for each flight. Earlier this year, Delta and Aeromexico became the first partners to utilize touchless technology to speed up the airport journey. Powered by the global airline alliance, SkyTeam, travelers can check in digitally and get their boarding passes through either airline’s self-service channels and proceed directly to security without needing to use am airport kiosk or see an agent, offering a faster, touchless airport experience.

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