Two interesting new lines are being added to Delta Air Lines' route network.
Later this year, the airline will begin a new service between John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) in New York and Buenos Aires. It will also resume seasonally scheduled flights between JFK and Rio de Janeiro after a more than three-year break.
In March 2020, Delta made its final flight from New York to Rio before putting a halt to all operations because of the pandemic.
From October 28, 2023, until March 29, 2024, there will be daily service to the Argentinean capital.
From Dec. 16, 2023, until Feb. 21, 2024, the daily Rio flight will once again run.
A 238-seat Boeing 767-400 with 156 regular main cabin seats, 34 Delta One pod, 20 Premium Select recliners, 28 extra-legroom Comfort+ seats, and 5,282 miles of flight time between Buenos Aires and New York will operate the route.
A recently modified 216-seat Boeing 767-300 with a four-cabin configuration will be operating the 4,786-mile Rio route.
26 Delta One pod, 18 Premium Select recliners, 21 Comfort+ seats with extra legroom, and 151 normal economy seats are all found aboard this aircraft, also known as the "76K," which is used for internal communications.
The official restart of service between New York and Buenos Aires by Delta, a market the carrier temporarily covered between December 2008 and March 2009, won't likely surprise aviation analysts.
The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) received a request from the carrier on January 12 to restart this route, and on January 25 the government formally agreed to the proposal.
The market has been dominated by American and Aerolineas Argentinas, and Delta stated in its appeal to the DOT that it wished to "introduce additional competition" to the area.
(According to Cirium timetables, United ceased operations on the Newark to Buenos Aires route in October 2019).
The fact that Delta can provide several one-stop connecting chances through New York for passengers traveling to Argentina supports its case.
Furthermore, according to the airline, "passengers who would use the proposed services will also benefit from greater operational reliability and customer service."
The most intriguing part is that despite asking the DOT to permit year-round service between New York and Argentina, Delta has already acknowledged that it only intends to load flights during the winter.
It remains to be seen if the airline follows through on its initial commitment to increase flights for next summer.
Only the Rio route will be utilized as a part of the new joint venture with the South American mega-carrier LATAM.
When Delta announced in September 2019 that it was purchasing a 20% share in LATAM and removing the airline from the Oneworld frequent flyer alliance, it stunned the industry.
In order to increase flights in important U.S. gateway airports to Latin America as part of the investment, Delta is aiming to forge a strategic alliance with LATAM.
The joint venture enables the two carriers to divide earnings on flights between the United States and Canada as well as South America.
Additionally, the agreement includes antitrust protection, allowing Delta and LATAM to coordinate flight schedules and prices in those markets.
Under the joint venture, Delta and LATAM have already implemented a number of improvements that directly benefit customers, such as reciprocal frequent flyer accumulation and redemption, elite rewards, and lounge access advantages.
Although more routes are anticipated to be in the works, the agreement has so far allowed the two airlines to launch two new ones: Orlando to Bogota and Los Angeles to Sao Paulo.
This is merely the most recent set of network changes for Delta.
The airline recently announced a large number of additional flights from Texas, and this month Delta confirmed plans to expand service to Nice, France, and Auckland, New Zealand.
Additionally, Delta will stop operating its long-standing long-haul route from Detroit later this month, which will result in Nagoya, Japan, no longer being served.
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