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Quoting readytotaxi (Thread starter): If that happened it would give SkyTeam a much larger presence at Heathrow. |
Quoting Deltal1011man (Reply 2): question, could delta buy the 49%? wouldn't AF/KL have to do it? |
Quoting Deltal1011man (Reply 2): question, could delta buy the 49%? wouldn't AF/KL have to do it? |
Quoting Deltal1011man (Reply 2): question, could delta buy the 49%? wouldn't AF/KL have to do it? |
Quoting readytotaxi (Thread starter): If that happened it would give SkyTeam a much larger presence at Heathrow. |
Quoting Deltal1011man (Reply 2): If DL/AF were to buy into VS it would mean a big codeshare....and very likely VS would move into the DL/AF/KL/AZ ATI/JV. |
Quoting usdcaguy (Reply 10): I did notice that The Times named Delta "Americas largest airline". Interesting. I thought that moniker was supposed to belong to United. |
Quoting usdcaguy (Reply 10): |
Quoting rwy04lga (Reply 12): Perhaps he meant after DL 'acquired' (or would that be 'merged with'?  ![]() At the moment, UA is larger than DL. |
Quoting usdcaguy (Reply 10): I did notice that The Times named Delta "Americas largest airline". Interesting. I thought that moniker was supposed to belong to United. |
Quoting commavia (Reply 17): |
Quoting avek00 (Reply 22): As US carriers retake their rightful place at the very top of the global commercial aviation hierarchy, expect to see more proposals like this one. |
Quoting LOWS (Reply 19): SQ owning VS hasn't gotten them into Star. So it follows that just because DL bought a share, they're not going to jump into Sky. |
Quoting ORDBOSEWR (Reply 15): I am not sure this is technically possible given all of the rules associated to ownership. If VS would become a US based airline then it would be subject to all of the US bi-laterals and frankly that would kill VS. It is more likely that DL would get the 49% and then AF-KL would get a few more % giving the alliance the ability to make all decisions, but VS would remain a EU based airline. My big question is how does this really help DL? (besides the fact of keeping VS out of *A, which would be big for LHR fliers) |
Quoting LOWS (Reply 19): No kidding, but SQ owning VS hasn't gotten them into Star. So it follows that just because DL bought a share, they're not going to jump into Sky. |
Quoting EricR (Reply 24): I do not think the network is the main motivating factor behind this acquisition. Virgin's network is secondary (perhaps even meaningless). The LHR slots is where the real value is in this transaction and is probably the main reason for DL exploring this opportunity. |
Quoting avek00 (Reply 22): As US carriers retake their rightful place at the very top of the global commercial aviation hierarchy, expect to see more proposals like this one. |
Quoting avek00 (Reply 22): As US carriers retake their rightful place at the very top of the global commercial aviation hierarchy, expect to see more proposals like this one. |
Quoting EricR (Reply 24): I do not think the network is the main motivating factor behind this acquisition. Virgin's network is secondary (perhaps even meaningless). The LHR slots is where the real value is in this transaction and is probably the main reason for DL exploring this opportunity. |
Quoting readytotaxi (Thread starter): Delta has made a secret approach to Singapore Airlines to by out their 49% stake in Virgin. |
Quoting EricR (Reply 24): For example, let's assume the SFO-LHR route is a money loser. The new owners could easily eliminate the route and associated costs (ie. labor, fuel, etc.) to stop the loss. Then they could route all passengers over another hub (which Virgin could not do on their own), while keeping the underlying AND appreciating asset - the LHR slot. |
Quoting avek00 (Reply 30): Neither carrier, for instance, could likely make a solid go of a Texas-London flight acting alone, but I'd be shocked if a DL/VS JV didn't add IAH-LHR services within 2-3 years. |
Quoting LOWS (Reply 3): How was SQ able to buy it in the first place then? |
Quoting commavia (Reply 34): I doubt we would see much wholesale shifting like that. Part of what Virgin would bring to Delta regarding LHR would be scale and network breadth (specifically in the LHR-U.S. market) that Delta simply cannot ever achieve on its own. Dismantling much of Virgin's LHR-U.S. network ex-Delta hubs wouldn't make much sense in that context. In addition, part of the additive benefit Virgin would hypothetically bring to Delta/Air France/KLM on the U.S. POS is the expanded scope of new nonstop flights to the U.S. which could also be leveraged with U.S. corporate contracts (in addition to those in the U.K.). Again, that would tend to imply to me not much reductions in schedule for Virgin's LHR-U.S. network. |
Quoting PHX787 (Reply 35): |
Quoting jfk777 (Reply 38): The only USA to LHR gateway VA and DL have in common is JFK, the VA network compliments the DL routes to LHR very nicely. DL & VA may let Virgin fly all the JFK to LHR flights with additional frequencies using DL slots at LHR. |
Quoting TeamInTheSky (Reply 39): Sky News just did a breaking news story that Singapore Airlines has announced/confirmed they are talking to an interested party(ies) about their 49% stake. |
Quoting commavia (Reply 17): I think the value and logic for Virgin is obvious. On the other hand, though, I do question how much value this would really generate for Delta |
Quoting TeamInTheSky (Reply 39): Sky News just did a breaking news story that Singapore Airlines has announced/confirmed they are talking to an interested party(ies) about their 49% stake. This could be very interesting. |
Quoting Byrdluvs747 (Reply 46): Is that really news? SQ has been looking to offload the VS stake for years. |