Here’s an announcement I wasn’t expecting. Delta Air Lines and EL AL Israel Airlines have just signed an agreement to launch a strategic partnership, and I can’t help but feel like the execution of this seems out of character for Delta.
In this post:
Details of the new Delta & EL AL partnership
Delta and EL AL are launching a partnership, intended to offer more convenient connections for customers flying between the United States and Israel. As part of this partnership, the two airlines will implement reciprocal codeshare and frequent flyer benefits, including the ability to earn and redeem miles across both airlines.
With the first phase of this partnership, customers connecting onto Delta or EL AL services will be able to check-in for their entire journey, with boarding passes issued and bags checked through to the final destination (with the exception of international flights arriving in the United States, where they first have to be claimed).
The codeshare agreement will eventually cover both carriers’ service between the United States and Israel, including Delta’s service from Atlanta, Boston, and New York, and EL AL’s service from Boston, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, and Newark.
The partnership will be valid for at least five years, but can be extended beyond that. Furthermore, Delta is reportedly working to sponsor EL AL joining the SkyTeam alliance, though it remains to be seen if that comes to fruition.
Here’s how Matteo Curcio, Delta’s SVP for Europe, Middle East, Africa, and India, describes this partnership:
“Working closely with EL AL will further strengthen Delta’s connection to Israel by offering more customers unrivalled access to destinations across the U.S. Enhanced partnerships are integral to our long-term strategy to better connect Delta customers around the world.”
Here’s how Shlomi Zafrany, EL AL’s VP of Commercial and Industry Affairs, describes this partnership:
“We are delighted to offer our customers new ways to discover exciting destinations on both sides of the Atlantic through our partnership with Delta. This partnership marks another important milestone in our long-term strategy and offers our customers unparalleled service.”
My take on this new Delta & EL partnership
I’m surprised by this new partnership between Delta and EL AL, as this very much doesn’t seem to be in line with the standard approach that Delta takes toward its partnerships:
- It’s interesting how Delta is partnering with EL AL, given that the two airlines compete on some routes between the United States and Israel, so it’s not like this is giving Delta access to a market it couldn’t otherwise fly to
- Tel Aviv is all about origin & destination traffic, and isn’t a global connecting hub, like Dubai; in other words, Delta is presumably launching this partnership because of demand to & from Israel, rather than anything else
- Delta typically focuses on partnerships where the airline also gets an equity stake in the airline (Korean Air, LATAM, Virgin Atlantic, etc.) and/or there’s a joint venture, so I’m curious if that could also be coming
- I can’t remember the last time that Delta added an independent airline partner that it wasn’t also investing in or forming a joint venture with (honestly, has there been a single airline in the past decade?)
- It’s interesting that Delta is reportedly sponsoring EL AL to join SkyTeam, given that Delta doesn’t seem to care that much about alliances; for example, Delta bought a stake in LATAM, but there’s no sign of the airline joining SkyTeam, even after leaving oneworld
I suppose the frequent flyer reciprocity could be useful in terms of elite perks and reciprocal lounge access, though don’t get too excited about the ability to redeem miles on EL AL, since I can’t imagine Delta SkyMiles will have good award rates.
Honestly, this partnership is just kind of puzzling to me. What’s the upside for Delta here? Some incremental revenue from codeshares? But at the expense of many Delta passengers flying with EL AL, where there’s not a true joint venture-style revenue sharing agreement in place?
The only logical explanation I can come up with is that there’s a lot more coming (like a joint venture or equity investment), or that this is simply Delta acknowledging United’s dominance between the United States and Israel, and doing what it can to compete.
Bottom line
Delta and EL AL are launching a strategic partnership, whereby the two airlines intend to codeshare and launch reciprocal frequent flyer perks. While more partnerships are always a good thing, this new arrangement seems out of character for Delta, which is laser focused on joint ventures and equity investments, and seemingly little else on the partnership front.
What do you make of this new Delta & EL AL partnership?
This seems part of Elals 2020s strategy to partner wherever possible but also because it lacks the metal. Codesharing allows Elal to pull out of certain routes frequency wise (Boston) and put their 787s onto new lucrative routes where they will be unchallenged. If you want to guess where..dont follow the US expats..follow the Israelis....living in Silicon valley (their SF route has not come back since COVID to compete with UNITED)--or possibly Seattle. Maybe they...
This seems part of Elals 2020s strategy to partner wherever possible but also because it lacks the metal. Codesharing allows Elal to pull out of certain routes frequency wise (Boston) and put their 787s onto new lucrative routes where they will be unchallenged. If you want to guess where..dont follow the US expats..follow the Israelis....living in Silicon valley (their SF route has not come back since COVID to compete with UNITED)--or possibly Seattle. Maybe they will now be able to get back to Toronto?
More like the AG is nyc is after them and they need to make a deal! See how the new owner even brought that airline is a full on scandal lol. Very fishy now that the owner is facing charges they need some heavy hitters to back them against Letitia James
Mark my words. Delta is going to slowly but surely take over (or at least significantly grow their presence) in Miami. Now with El Al code share, SkyTeam now has Paris, Amsterdam, London, Rome, all of LaTam, and now an El Al code share. I love Delta, and I am very happy to see this.
I just got off TLV-ATL and they certainly aren’t investing in delta metal. The plane was acquired for another airline and they sold six abreast seating as delta one. No menus and the flight attendant offered “beef, chicken or vegetarian” for the first meal. No galley snacks and the pre-landing meal looked like Ben’s AA lobster roll. All that for the low, low price of $6000 one way after American cancelled their jfk flight.
You must have never flown Delta and being misled by all the Delta One doors that every blogger seems to love.
Those ex-LATAM are Delta One seating sold as Delta One.
Probably bad luck on no menu or no snack basket because I've never missed it a single time. Not that the snacks are beyond packaged calories. Nothing gourmet, so you really didn't miss much.
Or because you never flown Delta and...
You must have never flown Delta and being misled by all the Delta One doors that every blogger seems to love.
Those ex-LATAM are Delta One seating sold as Delta One.
Probably bad luck on no menu or no snack basket because I've never missed it a single time. Not that the snacks are beyond packaged calories. Nothing gourmet, so you really didn't miss much.
Or because you never flown Delta and their menu is hidden with the safety card and the tiny snack basket is so small, you actually missed it.
At least your $6000 oneway, is reflecting the value of SkyMiles which would cost 'only' 480,000 miles for that same seat.
I think you might have addressed the price point by stating that ending up on Delta was the result of a cancellation by American.
Last minute seats are always expensive.
The menu sounds underwhelming but Delta has already signed a contract w/ Airbus to retrofit the aircraft to Delta standards but there is a huge backlog in supply chains and airplane seats are no exception.
Besides beef, chicken or vegetarian, what choices...
I think you might have addressed the price point by stating that ending up on Delta was the result of a cancellation by American.
Last minute seats are always expensive.
The menu sounds underwhelming but Delta has already signed a contract w/ Airbus to retrofit the aircraft to Delta standards but there is a huge backlog in supply chains and airplane seats are no exception.
Besides beef, chicken or vegetarian, what choices would you have wanted? Delta usually has menus in Delta One - and it sounds like that did not happen for you - but the choices for airplane food are pretty much around those 3 choices. How they are prepared makes quite a bit of difference.
but it sounds like you weren't in the greatest frame of mind before you ever got on the aircraft.
Wow, folks I made a legitimate comment that a cabin was not up to Delta One standards and that they would not be competitive on that route with even the likes of AA -- which is saying something and I got snark.
I'm a Delta Diamond and American Executive Platinum and have already requalified for both this year. So, I know exactly what to expect from Delta One. This was not up to Delta's standards...
Wow, folks I made a legitimate comment that a cabin was not up to Delta One standards and that they would not be competitive on that route with even the likes of AA -- which is saying something and I got snark.
I'm a Delta Diamond and American Executive Platinum and have already requalified for both this year. So, I know exactly what to expect from Delta One. This was not up to Delta's standards and even the crew was complaining about the plane. My point was that that cabin should have been sold as Business, not Delta One as the LATAM plane did not match Delta One standards.
And @Eskimo, while some of the snacks are not the healthiest, I was starving by the time the second meal came around only to find it was something I couldn't eat as I don't eat red meat. So, snack basket would have been appreciated.
@Tim Dunn My comment about the price point was a bit snarky. But if they had marketed it as business then at least there would have been truth in advertising. However, the price wasn't the main point as you might have gathered since it was at the very end of my post.
And my frame of mind was just fine thanks very much. I'd found a flight to get me home only 14 hours late rather than the 36 offered by American. I had figured out the seats were going to be quirky from the seat map. And that flight wrapped up my MQDs for my Diamond requalification. However, things went downhill from there. It's reasonable to expect that Delta deliver on the Delta One brand or just call it Business.
Interesting, considering that Virgin Atlantic, a joint venture- and Skyteam alliance partner, in which Delta holds a significant stake, does have x2 daily (morning & evening) service between TLV and LHR.
those that want to equate the DL/LY partnership to anything beyond the US-Israel market in which DL is the #2 US carrier should probably know that the EU's competition authority has stopped its investigation of the Korean-Asian merger as Korean provides a remedies package which it believes will allow its merger to move forward.
DL has specifically said that its partnership with KE is in the very early stages, has enormous growth potential and...
those that want to equate the DL/LY partnership to anything beyond the US-Israel market in which DL is the #2 US carrier should probably know that the EU's competition authority has stopped its investigation of the Korean-Asian merger as Korean provides a remedies package which it believes will allow its merger to move forward.
DL has specifically said that its partnership with KE is in the very early stages, has enormous growth potential and DL is clearly waiting for resolution of approval of the merger - which has also not been approved in the US - before adding a number of flights to ICN.
If the focus is on network and partner advantages, DL can do with KE at ICN and in East Asia far more than any other airline can do with any other partnership in Asia including with any Middle East airline.
The DL/LY partnership - which is a basic codeshare, FFP and lounge deal at this point - is for a niche but significant and lucrative Us international market and has nothing to do with what DL or UA or any other carrier is doing in any other region of the world.
ElAl frequent flyer program name change idea:
SkyShekels
I mean...I can just see the partner award rates for US-Israel routes being in the millions. It's going to be fun to watch.
More like skyagurot ;)
OMG, I was joking to someone earlier this year that Delta might be up to something when SkyClub took over King David at JFK and send people to Clubhouse.
Now if chatGPTim can only confirm what else is part of the deal.
I don't think this is a big a deal as it may seem. El Al already codes with AA and AS, so DL would be third US partner.
Delta also has been adding options in MIA and this aids with that.
Delta has small codeshare partnerships with several non Skyteam airlines--CapeAir, Hawaiian, SkyExpress (their most recent), and this arrangement would seem to fall in that bucket.
"or that this is simply Delta acknowledging United’s dominance between the United States and Israel, and doing what it can to compete" -
I think this is the likely reason. United has become super dominant in TLV, and is seeing very good yields on it's routes.
United has been larger than Delta in many global markets for years - but they also have not made near as much money either on their entire system or their international system.
Further, whatever size advantage that United had before a week ago seems pointless given the enormous operational meltdown that United has uniquely experienced.
Just like a dozen other smaller airlines that are partners -either as part of alliances or independently with...
United has been larger than Delta in many global markets for years - but they also have not made near as much money either on their entire system or their international system.
Further, whatever size advantage that United had before a week ago seems pointless given the enormous operational meltdown that United has uniquely experienced.
Just like a dozen other smaller airlines that are partners -either as part of alliances or independently with the US 3- LY could be a nice niche fit for Delta and potentially Skyteam.
Trying to read much more than that into the agreement seems speculative at best.
Agree with that assessment, Dude26.
It’s pretty irrational to suggest a temporary one off meltdown as a marker for general operational effectiveness. United’s profitability may not be as good as Delta’s but they have executed a tremendous financial performance. Delta will take years to catch up with United to be anywhere near that scale, TLV or otherwise. That’s without even getting into the tired planes and some of their products which include a greyhound...
Agree with that assessment, Dude26.
It’s pretty irrational to suggest a temporary one off meltdown as a marker for general operational effectiveness. United’s profitability may not be as good as Delta’s but they have executed a tremendous financial performance. Delta will take years to catch up with United to be anywhere near that scale, TLV or otherwise. That’s without even getting into the tired planes and some of their products which include a greyhound version of business class (LATAM).
United did not generate profits as large as Delta for even 2022 as a whole. They did it for just one quarter - 3rd quarter 2022.
United has long been focused on market share in international markets and trying to hold onto its position as the largest US carrier in the international marketplace based on size.
And the relevance of its current operational meltdown - which is still ongoing - is that they very...
United did not generate profits as large as Delta for even 2022 as a whole. They did it for just one quarter - 3rd quarter 2022.
United has long been focused on market share in international markets and trying to hold onto its position as the largest US carrier in the international marketplace based on size.
And the relevance of its current operational meltdown - which is still ongoing - is that they very well may not be able to grow any where near as aggressively as they are saying. Boeing can't deliver airplanes as fast as United has ordered them, UAL was clearly understaffed to handle the major IROPS which do happen in the NYC area in both winter and summer, and there won't be any more airspace in the NE which includes IAD where UA wants to aggressively grow as well.
and the heart of the issue is that UA is trying to operate its primary NE operations out of EWR, an airport that has just 2 effective runways while DL has 5 effective runways between LGA and JFK for its NYC operations. UA doesn't even serve JFK while DL serves all 3 NYC airports. As long as UA is as highly dependent on an airport that is so operationally stretched (they get more local market revenue from EWR than any other airline gets from any the local market at any airport in the US) then there will be operational meltdowns which will hurt UA's brand.
And the insinuations here that DL is second class because they don't have an Arab Middle East partner so have to settle for LY is patently ridiculous. Israel and the Arab Middle East and the ME3 carriers serve totally different markets.
And as hard as it is for some to grasp, all of the US3's joint venture alliance partners have meaningful and presences in the same markets that EK and QR serve from their Middle East hubs. UA - driven by the same drive for size - just wants more and is willing to grow outside of a joint venture to gain size but not necessarily higher revenue passengers than what it can obtain through its JVs and its own service which includes 787s which can only serve one India route given the current Russia airspace restrictions.
According to LY’s report to the stock exchange : there will also be mutual lounge access and the most interesting part : Delta will make a big effort in assisting ELAL in joining its airline alliance sky team
I far prefer to read posts like this than unsubstantiated conjectures or attempts to justify or value the partnership compared to other companies.
All 3 US global carriers fly NYC to TLV; there is little reason to think any one of them would be in any better or worse position in seeking to develop a relationship.
While LY has expanded its network beyond TLV, the relationship is undoubtedly heavily focused on the US to...
I far prefer to read posts like this than unsubstantiated conjectures or attempts to justify or value the partnership compared to other companies.
All 3 US global carriers fly NYC to TLV; there is little reason to think any one of them would be in any better or worse position in seeking to develop a relationship.
While LY has expanded its network beyond TLV, the relationship is undoubtedly heavily focused on the US to Israel market, for which DL can provide substantial feed via multiple DL and LY gateways.
Average fares from the US to Israel are higher per mile than they are to India or the Arab Middle East.
The value of connecting passengers to either airline outside of a joint venture - which DL and LY do not say they are pursuing - and which also does not apply to AA or UA's Middle East partners - is highly dependent on the value of the agreements between each airline and of which none of us has or will have information sufficient to be able to value revenue.
Saudia and El Al eventually in the same alliance.... nice.
Given the scandal surrounding El Al's largest shareholder, perhaps Delta thinks they could simply buy the stake off of them?
Regarding LA, it is important to note that QR is the second largest foreign shareholder, so them joining Skyteam is very slim rn. Plus, it may interfere with the JV they have with DL
And Aerolineas Argentinas might well veto/lobby hard against LATAM being accepted into SkyTeam.
This smells like Delta needing more access to US-Israel flying but unable to add it on their own under their current JV governance with AF KL VS. They may be limited by ASMs across the atlantic which means they’d need to reduce more than one JFK-CDG flight in order to add one JFK-TLV.
This probably wasn’t their first choice to grow TLV but they are probably hamstrung by their partners
Welp. I was hoping they would hook up with Etihad instead, completing a US3=ME3 situation
I'd always sorta hoped that after all the squabbling, they'd go (back) to Emirates, regardless of UA's presence.
After all, during their previous cooperation with EK, Continental was also (and had been for longer) an Emirates partner as well.
Not surprising. Delta for many years trailed in several metrics for the region. This being the first US-Israel/Middle East partnership shows Delta’s commitment in the region as the #2 US airline. Delta has previously mentioned the important of non equity partners and the SkyTeam alliance, so we’ll probably see El Al, like Virgin Atlantic, join the ranks of MEA and Saudia. TLV also several advantages as a connecting hub over Dubai and Doha in fostering...
Not surprising. Delta for many years trailed in several metrics for the region. This being the first US-Israel/Middle East partnership shows Delta’s commitment in the region as the #2 US airline. Delta has previously mentioned the important of non equity partners and the SkyTeam alliance, so we’ll probably see El Al, like Virgin Atlantic, join the ranks of MEA and Saudia. TLV also several advantages as a connecting hub over Dubai and Doha in fostering seamless transits. Israel airport staff are known to be more hospitable and curious compared to their counterparts. They tend to ask about your stay in Israel and how your family is doing. The next step will be codesharing on flights to India.
You know that the hospitality and curiosity stems from their need to evaluate whether you are a security threat, right? They do it everyone. They are measuring your reactions to normal social interactions to see if you are suspicious.
@Dan
Better yet, you know that you're responding to a parody account vis-a-vis Tim Dunn, right?
When asked about my family there, this Miami resident surprised the "grand inquisitor" by rattling off their Tel Aviv address in not so bad eevreet.
This will likely tangle with regulators. EL AL and Delta will have a monopoly on BOS-TLV-BOS and excessive market share on JFK-TLV-JFK. UA and AA will challenge it. Rightly so.
Not likely to have much trouble at all. DOT nor DOJ is all that interested in fighting simple codeshares, as the operators cannot coordinate pricing nor schedule, and must therefore still compete.
Now if DL and LY were going for an anti-trust immunized joint venture, that'd be a whole different ballgame, and what you're saying would likely be so.
Codeshare-- no one really cares. Same reason no one really challenged China Southern, China Eastern, and...
Not likely to have much trouble at all. DOT nor DOJ is all that interested in fighting simple codeshares, as the operators cannot coordinate pricing nor schedule, and must therefore still compete.
Now if DL and LY were going for an anti-trust immunized joint venture, that'd be a whole different ballgame, and what you're saying would likely be so.
Codeshare-- no one really cares. Same reason no one really challenged China Southern, China Eastern, and Xiamen all being Delta partners at once, back in the day.
Long time reader, first time commenter. As a Delta Diamond living 15 min from TLV airport, let me give my take here...
The statistic I've heard is that the US expat community in Israel is the second largest in the world, only second to Mexico. During COVID, you saw even more US citizens moving to Israel for good as people got comfortable to the idea of remote work. There are plenty of people in my...
Long time reader, first time commenter. As a Delta Diamond living 15 min from TLV airport, let me give my take here...
The statistic I've heard is that the US expat community in Israel is the second largest in the world, only second to Mexico. During COVID, you saw even more US citizens moving to Israel for good as people got comfortable to the idea of remote work. There are plenty of people in my neighborhood (and in many neighborhoods in Israel) who fly monthly or even more to better paying jobs in the US. Most of those people fly United or El Al. The Delta schedule, although having gotten significantly better in the past year, is not frequent or flexible enough for this type of commuter. (There are even rumors of a United lounge opening in TLV).
The market for people who live in Israel and want to go more frequently to the US is growing quickly. El Al also has a notoriously bad loyalty program, so if Delta is able to leverage the flexibility of El Al's schedule for people who want to accrue and remain loyal to Delta, then it kind of sounds like a no brainer to me. While it is known that United has the best schedule, I don't think everyone would agree that it's the best service, so people would be thrilled to fly on El Al and connect to better service Delta.
Delta is likely focused on its Atlanta flight. This partnership will help provide connections in Tel Aviv to Dubai, Bangkok, Mumbai and New Dehli.
Delta is facing increasing long-haul expansion in Atlanta with Turkish, Qatar and now even Ethipoian bringing service to their home market. Delta does not want to ceed any markets and wants to ensure that its planes remain fully.
Huh? What advantage is TLV, which isn't set up as a mass connecting hub, going to give DL over the likes of CDG, AMS, or ICN when it comes to those destinations listed?
There is some logic in this, but only assuming some sort of a joint venture comes to fruition.
If they do set up a joint venture, Delta will have one more additional routing to send paxes from the east coast to final destinations of DXB, BOM, DEL (and potentially more destinations in that region that LY will open up flights to now that Saudi & Omani airspace is open to it...)
By this...
There is some logic in this, but only assuming some sort of a joint venture comes to fruition.
If they do set up a joint venture, Delta will have one more additional routing to send paxes from the east coast to final destinations of DXB, BOM, DEL (and potentially more destinations in that region that LY will open up flights to now that Saudi & Omani airspace is open to it...)
By this it just gives them more capacity than having to send paxes only via CDG, AMS (where AF and KL have only one daily flight to BOM, DEL for example, so it's somewhat tight)
Good write up Ben. I have a bit of a different take than you. I think for Delta with the world more or less fully opened post COVID there is likely more lucrative opportunities elsewhere that delta will pursue instead of further expanding their presence in the USA/Israel market. This is likely a way to sort of compete with United without needing to use additional delta metal.
Connections in TLV don't really exist.
The opening of Saudi and Omani airspace make it more realistic, but it's still quite rare.
I very much doubt that Delta is renting on this when considering the deal.
I was only referring to Delta being able to expand its footprint between USA and Israel without using its own metal.
At this point, Israel just isn't setup to handle connections
I agree that I don't understand DL strategic pivot. They seem to be pulling away from Skyteam and developing a secondary alliance. El Al would be the consolation prize for not getting in bed with Emirates or Qatar early on. Climbing? more like preparing for decent.
I certainly wasn't expecting this partnership either but Israel is a significant US market in which Delta is a solid #2 among US carriers but serves many of the key markets.
I would agree that there is the potential for something larger such as a joint venture or equity partnership (esp. in light of your other El Al article today) but that doesn't diminish the strategic value of working w/ Delta esp. since El Al doesn't have a cohesive US carrier partner.
I have to imagine this is more about El Al getting access to domestic U.S. connections than Delta getting access to Israel. The only benefit for Delta customers is the ability to connect to El Al for Dubai and a few random places that Delta doesn't serve.
@ FNT Delta Diamond -- It's not surprising that EL AL would want to partner with Delta. EL AL also partners with Alaska, and used to partner with American. What's surprising is that Delta would want to partner with EL AL, as the revenue from a domestic connection of an international flight isn't necessarily high yield.
El Al still codeshares with American Airlines on certain routes, such as U.S. to/from LHR, CDG, FRA etc. I'm curious to see if those will go away with this new partnership.
Like with LATAM, this may be DL trying to stick it to / weaken AA if this agreement ends up with AA losing codesharing with LY.
Agree that it seems to be more likely to be about Delta getting the revenue from El Al passengers within the Americas.
El Al doesn't fly to anywhere in Canada, Mexico, or Central or South America.
Take MEX - it may seem obvious to most people here to change in MIA, but the apparent "one airline" listings will lead to people going via ATL/BOS/JFK with Delta getting the Americas business.