Read the forum code of contact
By: - 22nd May 2003 at 20:33 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
If KLM enters Skyteam, does Northwest enter as well?
By: - 22nd May 2003 at 20:44 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
Well Skyteam has not been decided yet though it looks pretty likely. I was clinging on to BA but obviously that option has gone. I think KLM had no other option in the end. Oneworld was right for them but they couldn't really break their strong ties with NW and lose a very valuable US partner. I suspect NW was the driving force therefore, with its intentions to join Skyteam plus its relationship with CO and DL.
Rather ironic that it would back with Alitalia though! Oh well, who guessed right in the discussion earlier this month?
By: - 22nd May 2003 at 20:49 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
Is this the start of the end for KLM?
By: - 22nd May 2003 at 22:29 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
So then if KLM joins Skyteam, then both Northwest AND Continental follow suit?
By: - 22nd May 2003 at 22:33 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
Isn't NW already in a code-share with DL?
Would be an interesting merger. AF, KL and AZ in Europe and DL, NW and CO in the United States.
By: - 23rd May 2003 at 16:39 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
I would turn the situation around. Northwest has stated that it would like to join Skyteam in the near future if all goes well. KLM relies heavily on Northwest as a US partner and would never receive such an enveloped alliance with any other US carrier, who would or could have a similar alliance with KLM? Northwest, however, is its reliable partner. If Northwest has said it will go to Skyteam then KLM will naturally follow. Although I do not think it was the best choice for KLM, Northwest is a definite Skyteam target, given their relationship, KLM had no other choice. Really it is a case of who was pulling the shots in this matter?
By: - 23rd May 2003 at 16:51 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
I agree with this last point. I don't think KLM was pulling the strings in this case. NW has become very strong over the last decade. Also, the KLM/NW codeshare agreement is second-to-none in my understanding. It would have been very short sighted to give that up, it also might have paved the way for BA/AA to get theirs approved if the other was no longer in existence.
It seems as though the prophecy (sorry just saw Matrix Reloaded) of what was it five European majors in enroute to completion.
It's so strange when you look at this from North America, with such as huge land mass, then you have so many massive carriers in Europe so close together. yes, I know it's a part of national identity.
By: - 23rd May 2003 at 16:57 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
although national identity is important, but when it comes to the question of survival they dont care a damn about it.
By: - 23rd May 2003 at 18:18 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
True enough, business is business and money is money. If you don't make any you can't continue to exist.
Posts: 714
By: kurmitz28 - 22nd May 2003 at 20:25
Amsterdam, May 22 (Bloomberg) -- KLM Royal Dutch Airlines NV,
Europe's fourth-largest airline, has decided to form a partnership
with Air France for European flights, De Telegraaf reported,
citing unidentified company officials.
The official decision will be released shortly, the paper
reported. The paper didn't give any details about KLM's planned
alliance with Air France, Europe's second-largest airline.
KLM spokesmen Bart Koster and Hugo Baas weren't immediately
available for comment.
The Dutch carrier has been seeking a European partner since
its alliance with Italy's Alitalia SpA fell through in 2000. A
partnership with Air France would enable KLM to enter the SkyTeam alliance led by Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines Inc.