LATAM and Delta to start Joint Venture service between São Paulo and Los Angeles

LATAM Airlines Brazil will begin a nonstop flight between São Paulo (Brazil) and Los Angeles (United States) on 1st July 2023, as both LATAM and Delta begin to flex their Joint Venture between North and South America. 

The new route will add a destination not currently served from Los Angeles. It will also allow passengers to connect at the two hubs.

This is important for LATAM and Delta as this is the first operational announcement after the approval of its Joint Venture agreement with Delta last September.

In the first instance, the flight will operate three times a week, based on the following timetable:

DEPART GRU 23:05 ARRIVE LAX 07:00+1 Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays
DEPART LAX 13:00 ARRIVE GRU 05:20+1 Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays

Commences 1st July 2033
Operates three times a week, as above
Booked Equipment: LATAM Boeing 777-300ER 

The flight will have an initial frequency of three times a week on Boeing 777 aircraft, with the ability to carry 410 passengers (38 in the Premium Business cabin, 50 in Economy+ and 322 in Economy).

From Los Angeles, customers can connect to several Delta West Coast destinations in the United States, including San Francisco, Las Vegas and Seattle.

From São Paulo, passengers will be able to connect to different destinations in the LATAM Brazil domestic network, as well as connections to destinations served by the group in the region.

Further Capacity Growth 

There will be further capacity growth as a result of the joint venture with both Delta Air Lines and LATAM adding capacity. In the case of the LATAM Group, the changes will be the following:

• Santiago-Los Angeles: As of September 2023, LATAM Airlines Group will total 5 frequencies to Los Angeles International Airport. 
• São Paulo-Orlando: Starting in August 2023, LATAM Airlines Brazil will increase its operation to the Orlando International Airport, adding a fourth weekly frequency. The operation will be carried out with Boeing 787-9.
• Lima-Miami: The operation, by LATAM Airlines Peru, will go from 14 to 17 weekly frequencies, on Boeing 767 aircraft.
• Lima-New York: The itinerary will be adjusted from 7 to 12 weekly frequencies, on Boeing 767 aircraft operated by LATAM Airlines Peru.
• Lima-Los Angeles: The operation of LATAM Airlines Peru will go from 7 to 14 weekly frequencies, in a mix between Boeing 767 and 787 aircraft. 

Delta will be playing its parts with the airline scaling up its operation to Latin America, with a focus on operation scaling over the next month or so.

• Atlanta-Santiago de Chile: The operation increased from three weekly flights between Atlanta and Santiago de Chile to daily service on an Airbus A350.
• Atlanta-Lima: The service will upgrade to an Airbus A350 aircraft, increasing physical capacity on the route
• New York-São Paulo: Delta’s three weekly flights between its New York JFK hub and São Paulo increased to daily service beginning 29th October with an Airbus A330-300 aircraft.
• Atlanta-São Paulo: A second daily seasonal flight between Atlanta and São Paulo (GRU) will begin on 17th December using an Airbus A330 aircraft.
• Atlanta-Rio de Janeiro: Delta will resume the seasonal route between Atlanta and Galeão International Airport (GIG) in Rio de Janeiro on 17th December. 
• Miami-Orlando: Delta will launch a new daily service between Miami and Orlando on 1st December.
• Miami-Los Angeles: A new daily service between Miami and Los Angeles will launch on 17th December. 

According to LATAM, the move will bring over 23,000 weekly roundtrip seats between North and South America. 

Fruits of a Joint Venture

Joint Ventures are used for many purposes – be it to allow coordination of flights, managing the number of seats on sale and even offer frequent flyer benefits. 

However, they can also be used to launch new routes to support travel and new routes – as can be seen above – when the business case to fly a route by a single airline could be marginal. By running it as a joint venture, the risks and profits can be shared.  

With a busy end of year and summer of 2023 for this joint venture, it seems that there is more to come from LATAM and Delta.