The U.S. Transportation Department (DOT) has approved a codeshare agreement between Delta Air Lines and new SkyTeam alliance partner Scandinavian Airlines (SAS), despite an objection from JetBlue Airways.
The move allows the carriers to codeshare on flights between the U.S. and Denmark, Sweden and Norway, as well as onward destinations in Europe and the U.S. The decision includes a two-year exemption for SAS affiliates—SAS Connect, SAS Link and CityJet—to display Delta’s code on intra-European services.
Delta and SAS pushed for an expedited approval of the agreement to align with SAS’s entry into SkyTeam from Sept. 1—a condition of the deal by a consortium that includes SkyTeam member Air France-KLM and the Danish state, acting together with investment firms Castlelake and Lind Invest.
DOT’s decision clears the way for their partnership to begin operating as planned, despite objections from JetBlue, which raised concerns over its own unresolved codeshare issues in Europe.
JetBlue’s objection, submitted in July and then updated in early August, centered on its difficulties obtaining codeshare approvals for its partnership with Air Serbia in Italy and Croatia. The New York-based carrier argued that the delays it faced should be considered before approving the Delta-SAS application, as similar codeshare services were involved.
However, DOT determined that JetBlue’s situation did not apply to the Delta-SAS request. The department noted that the Delta-SAS arrangement is firmly grounded in the U.S.-European Union Air Transport Agreement and that JetBlue’s challenges in obtaining codeshare approvals were based on separate bilateral agreements that do not impact the Delta-SAS codeshare.
“We see no persuasive reason on the record before us to withhold approval, delay action or impose special limits on an otherwise routine codeshare request,” DOT said in its ruling. “We will, however, continue to engage on the matter with JetBlue and our foreign government counterparts to ensure that its codeshare requests are afforded fair and, as applicable, reciprocal consideration.”
SAS completed its restructuring proceedings in late August, emerging from Chapter 11 in the U.S. and from Swedish company reorganization. The move has seen the Scandinavian carrier depart Star Alliance for SkyTeam and forge codeshare and interline agreements with Air France and KLM.
SAS has also started made changes to its network with the addition of a transatlantic route from Denmark’s capital Copenhagen to Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, the home hub of Delta. Flights began in June, operating daily using Airbus A330-300 aircraft.
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