Delta Airlines Inc.

(
DAL

) and Virgin Atlantic Airways is set to launch their proposed
joint venture (JV) in summer 2014 by combining their service
offerings, thus adding flight options for trans-Atlantic
customers.

Looking back, in Dec 2012, Delta proposed to acquire a 49%
stake in British carrier Virgin Atlantic from Singapore Airlines.
The acquisition closed in Jun 2013, and in Sep 2013, Delta
cleared the final hurdle by winning the U.S. Department of
Transportation’s (DOT) approval to the deal.

Both carriers are prioritizing customer convenience by
aligning their slots at London’s Heathrow airport. Delta will
move its London-based flights from New York, Boston and Seattle
to Virgin’s Heathrow terminal. The co-location of terminal will
be accretive to both sets of customers as it will reduce the time
for connecting flights, thus paving the way for a rich flying
experience.

Delta in accordance with Virgin Atlantic will also launch a
second daily service between Heathrow and Detroit Metropolitan
airport beginning Jun 2014, targeting corporate flyers preferring
an early morning arrival at London.  

Meanwhile, Virgin Atlantic is also rescheduling its service
between Heathrow to New York’s Newark from late afternoon to
early morning to tap business customers between two of the most
lucrative business markets. This flight is part of the promised
nine daily roundtrip flights in the London-New York route.

Sussex, UK-based Virgin has also pushed back its afternoon and
evening flights between Heathrow and Boston by two hours to
complement Delta’s morning service in the same route. The
realignment of service will offer more flexibility to customers
within the same route.

We believe that apart from benefiting the flyers, the
co-location and rescheduling of flights will allow both carriers
to target a separate set of customers and at the same time
leverage from each other’s commanding position in either side of
the Atlantic.  

Delta operates with the likes of
United Continental Holdings Inc.

(
UAL

) and carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). However, sector stocks
U.S. Airways Group Inc.

(
LCC

) and
Spirit Airlines Inc.

(
SAVE

) look better with a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).

DELTA AIR LINES (DAL): Free Stock Analysis
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Sun Valley, Idaho ( KMVT-TV / KTWT-TV ) Delta Airlines will begin jet service from Sun Valley to Salt Lake City next year.

The route is expected to begin on January 6th.

The flights will be operated by the Delta Connections carrier Sky West Airlines.

A two-class bombadier CRJ 700 regional jet with sixty-six seats will be used.

That’s a larger aircraft than was previously used… Which adds up to about 31-hundred additional seats.

Friedman Airport officials are excited about the new changes…

And believe jet service is essential to the success of Sun Valley travel.

Delta Airlines Inc. (DAL) and Virgin Atlantic Airways is set to launch their proposed joint venture (:JV) in summer 2014 by combining their service offerings, thus adding flight options for trans-Atlantic customers.

Looking back, in Dec 2012, Delta proposed to acquire a 49% stake in British carrier Virgin Atlantic from Singapore Airlines. The acquisition closed in Jun 2013, and in Sep 2013, Delta cleared the final hurdle by winning the U.S. Department of Transportation’s (:DOT) approval to the deal.

Both carriers are prioritizing customer convenience by aligning their slots at London’s Heathrow airport. Delta will move its London-based flights from New York, Boston and Seattle to Virgin’s Heathrow terminal. The co-location of terminal will be accretive to both sets of customers as it will reduce the time for connecting flights, thus paving the way for a rich flying experience.

Delta in accordance with Virgin Atlantic will also launch a second daily service between Heathrow and Detroit Metropolitan airport beginning Jun 2014, targeting corporate flyers preferring an early morning arrival at London.  

Meanwhile, Virgin Atlantic is also rescheduling its service between Heathrow to New York’s Newark from late afternoon to early morning to tap business customers between two of the most lucrative business markets. This flight is part of the promised nine daily roundtrip flights in the London-New York route.

Sussex, UK-based Virgin has also pushed back its afternoon and evening flights between Heathrow and Boston by two hours to complement Delta’s morning service in the same route. The realignment of service will offer more flexibility to customers within the same route.

We believe that apart from benefiting the flyers, the co-location and rescheduling of flights will allow both carriers to target a separate set of customers and at the same time leverage from each other’s commanding position in either side of the Atlantic.  

Delta operates with the likes of United Continental Holdings Inc. (UAL) and carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). However, sector stocks U.S. Airways Group Inc. (LCC) and Spirit Airlines Inc. (SAVE) look better with a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).

Read the Full Research Report on DAL
Read the Full Research Report on UAL
Read the Full Research Report on SAVE
Read the Full Research Report on LCC

Zacks Investment Research

• Business
• Mergers, Acquisitions Takeovers
• Virgin Atlantic Airways
• Singapore Airlines
• Delta

A San Francisco-bound Delta Air Lines plane departed from a remote Alaska community near the Aleutian Islands Wednesday afternoon, 10 hours after its passengers’ original jet made an emergency landing there.

Delta sent the replacement plane to Cold Bay after a Boeing 767 landed safely at about 6 a.m. Wednesday with 167 passengers and 11 crew members on board.

The unscheduled landing came after crew members received an engine warning message in the cockpit, Delta spokesman Michael Thomas said.

“Because of that warning indication, out of an abundance of caution and safety they elected to divert to Cold Bay,” he said. “But at no point was the engine shut down in flight.”

No injuries were reported aboard the plane that had departed from Tokyo.

Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Allen Kenitzer said the Delta crew declared an emergency and headed to Cold Bay, a treeless, wind-swept community of about 60 people. Delta then sent maintenance crews and the replacement plane to the town 625 miles southwest of Anchorage.

The replacement plane departed from Cold Bay shortly before 4 p.m., according to Jill Reese, a spokeswoman for the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities.

While the passengers waited to depart, they were initially required to stay on the plane other than a few who were allowed to get out and stretch their legs, said Mary Martin, owner of the Cold Bay Lodge, where crew members who might remain overnight could stay. The airport has no customs or Transportation Security Administration presence to handle an international flight, Martin said.

TSA and customs representatives flew to Cold Bay to process the passengers, Reese said.

Passengers got off the plane early Wednesday afternoon and were taken to a few locations, including the community center, to wait for the arrival of the replacement aircraft, said Dawn Lyons, the city clerk and administrator.

Cold Bay _ on the Alaska Peninsula 40 miles from the start of the Aleutian Islands _ was built up as a key World War II staging area and once had a military population of 30,000. The state continues to maintain its 10,000-foot runway, Alaska’s third largest.

It’s not the first time a passenger jet has made an emergency landing at the remote location.

A Delta flight from Los Angeles to Tokyo with 220 passengers made an emergency landing at the community in March 2001.

Until Wednesday, the 2001 incident was the last time an emergency landing involved passengers, according to Martin. Despite Cold Bay’s tiny population, however, the airport is a regularly active place where cargo aircraft occasionally make quick emergency landings, or smaller planes stop to refuel or obtain supplies.

“They have high, high traffic all the time,” Martin said. “Twenty-four hours a day, we have aircraft coming and going to different places of the world.”

___

Follow Rachel D’Oro at https://twitter.com/rdoro.

(Memphis, TN) It’s been years, if not decades, since anyone talked about an airfare war at Memphis International Airport, but not anymore.

With Delta Airlines closing its hub here and Southwest adding service for the first time, suddenly lower fares are easier to find.

That apparently has Delta trying to defend what’s left of its turf.

Southwest Airlines arrived in Memphis Sunday with all the hype of a Hollywood premiere.

There was even an Elvis impersonator directing the first Southwest jet onto the airport tarmac.

But Elvis has “left the terminal.”  So let the fare war begin.

Southwest brought some attractive fare reductions and baggage rates to Memphis, even a three-day, $50, one-way deal on its flights in and out of Memphis.

The bargains apparently forced rival Delta to do the same. according to Memphian Tom Jones.

“I know a number of people who went to San Francisco lately because the fare dropped to $275. They hadn’t seen that fare in years,” said Jones.

Tom Jones’ “Delta Does Memphis” website has long criticized Delta’s monopoly in Memphis.

He said he believes any gesture of kindness by Delta is merely a business tactic to keep passengers from flying Southwest.

“I don’t think we should look for them to suddenly decide they’re going to be concerned about Memphians’ long term irritation about high airfares and lower prices,” said Jones.

Some air travelers we talked with at Memphis International Airport consider a fare war good for the passenger’s bottom line.

Leonard Hudson is from Starkville, Miss.

“I would like to get a cheaper price, you know. If the accommodation’s the same I would like to get a cheaper price,” said Hudson.

James Goodnight is from Sardis, Miss.

“I think it’s wonderful. It’s going to help everyone that want’s to go traveling,” said Goodnight.

Delta’s deep cuts in Memphis has left half the main terminal looking sparse.

But airport spokesman Glen Thomas said rumors of a fare war between carriers could be good news for the airport and potential passengers, and that ultimately the passengers will determine who wins a fare war.

“We have heard that some of the airlines have dropped fares to certain areas. And of course, competition is good. Competition can bring that type of reduction in fares. That’s exactly what we’re looking for,” said Thomas.

Another discount carrier, Frontier, will launch non-stop service to Denver in March 2014.

Glen Thomas said the Memphis airport isn’t giving up on luring new air carriers to call Memphis home.

“We are talking to virtually every other airline that doesn’t have services here. So, we hope to add to that number of carriers,” said Thomas.

A former Delta Airlines employee caught up in a drug smuggling investigation wants his name cleared. The man was never arrested or charged with any crime.

Franklyn Rosso told Channel 2’s Kerry Kavanaugh that he worked as a Delta baggage handler for 15 years.

Rosso was questioned in connection to a drug bust, and in the process he lost his security clearance and his job. Twenty-one months later, he maintains his innocence.

“You had no idea what they were involved in?” Kavanaugh asked Rosso.

“No,” Rosso said.

“You had no idea what was in that luggage? That the luggage was coming?” Kavanaugh asked Rosso.

“No, no, 100 percent no,” Rosso said.

The former Delta baggage handler was questioned in connection to a drug smuggling scheme involving his coworkers.

“They will tell me in the interview I will (lose) my family, I will (lose) my house and I will lose everything,” Rosso told Kavanaugh.

In January 2012, 18 pounds of methamphetamine arrived at Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport inside luggage flown from Mexico.

Days later, Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents approached Rosso as he returned from a 3-day trip to his native Dominican Republic.

“Since that day, they confiscated my ID,” Rosso said.

Kavanaugh confirmed another agency, Customs and Border Protection, confiscated that ID, his security seal. The seal granted him access to secure areas of the airport. Without it he cannot work.

“All my life went thrown in the garbage just like that,” Rosso said.

To date, Rosso has never been arrested or charged with any crime. He said he has written letters and called the federal agencies, desperate to clear his name.

“I want my job back. I want people to know I don’t have anything to do with that. I want this country to know we got an honest man over here,” Rosso said.

Rosso said he worked hard his whole life to support his family and build a reputation.

“I like this country. I started from the bottom and I will start from the bottom again,” Rosso said.

Customs and Border Protection told Kavanaugh currently the status of Rosso’s security is under review.

A representative for Immigration and Customs Enforcement told Kavanaugh people have to meet a very high threshold to be granted that security seal and the situations are not always black and white.

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Salt Lake County Sheriff / AP

Michael Pascal, 45, of Park City, Utah, plans to plead not guilty to a federal charge of abusive sexual contact with a minor, according to his lawyer.

An off-duty Delta Airlines pilot has been charged with fondling a 14-year-old girl seated next to him on a flight, but he contends he was sleeping at the time, authorities said on Wednesday.

Michael Pascal, 45, was returning to his home in Utah on Saturday after piloting an early-morning flight from Salt Lake City to Detroit when the alleged incident occurred.

Pascal plans to plead not guilty to a federal charge of abusive sexual contact with a minor, his lawyer Rhome Zabriskie said. The pilot’s initial court appearance is scheduled for Thursday in federal court in Salt Lake City.

If convicted, Pascal faces a maximum of two years in federal prison, said Melodie Rydalch, spokeswoman for the Salt Lake City-based U.S. Attorney’s Office.

The girl was flying as an unaccompanied minor when she was seated in a window seat next to Pascal, who had a middle seat, according to the criminal complaint against the pilot. The girl had crutches due to a foot injury, the documents said.

Pascal helped the girl get a blanket and asked about her injured foot, the complaint said. She lowered the armrest between them, spread the blanket over her lap, pulled her legs toward her chest and went to sleep, according to the document.

When she awoke, according to the complaint, the armrest had been raised and the palm of Pascal’s hand was touching her inner thigh and gripping her buttock. He was leaning against her and “clearly awake” with his eyes open, the girl told authorities.

The complaint stated the girl elbowed the pilot and pointedly asked him what he was doing. Pascal apologized, said he had been asleep and hurried for the bathroom, the documents said.

The girl notified a flight attendant and switched seats with another passenger at the rear of the airplane.

Pascal was detained at the Salt Lake City airport and questioned by the FBI. Pascal said he raised the armrest between himself and the girl because he was crowded by the man in the aisle seat, according to the complaint.

He said that he fell asleep with his hands in his lap, awoke to the girl jabbing him and did not know where his right hand was when he was awakened, according to the complaint.

Pascal, a resident of Park City, Utah, and the divorced father of a teenage girl, was “blindsided” by his arrest, attorney Zabriskie said.

“It’s his practice to take a nap on these return flights,” he added. “Everything was going normally until he felt an elbow jabbing him and he woke up and that’s when his horror began.”

This story was originally published on Thu Oct 31, 2013 5:22 AM EDT

Copyright 2013 Thomson Reuters. Click for restrictions.