Alitalia is busy with negotiations to become an associate member of the new transatlantic joint venture being forged by Delta Air Lines and Air France-KLM. The associate membership will change the way revenues are split among the four pr members – Air France, Delta, KLM and Virgin Atlantic Airways – and the Italy-based SkyTeam Alliance carrier while leaving their joint operations across the Atlantic unchanged, says Alitalia chief business officer Fabio Lazzerini at an event to mark the launch of the airline's new Washington DC service today. "Nothing is changing from an operational point of view – from a commercial point of view it's just changing the way we remunerate each other on our flights," he says. For example, Alitalia is planning its new flight to Washington Dulles from Rome Fiumicino with its SkyTeam partners, says Lazzerini. The airline will schedule the route five-times weekly with an Airbus A330-200 through the summer and three-times weekly this winter. These joint ventures are lucrative commercial agreements that allow carriers to operate as one in specified markets.

Korean Air plans to cancel their first class service on 27 routes operated by Boeing 787-9s, 777-300ERs and Airbus A330s from the 1st of June. The SkyTeam member says that the change is aimed at achieving “better operational efficiency” and reflects low demand for first class on several the routes. First class will be removed from a majority of its routes to Southeast Asia, Japan and China, with some exceptions to cities including Bangkok, Singapore, and Shanghai. The reduction in first class service comes after chief executive Walter Cho told a source in October 2018 that there was still a market for first class, “so we will try to keep it as long as we can.”

WestJet has introduced its latest Boeing 787-9 with a transatlantic flight. This is the Canadian carriers third 787, operating the Calgary to London Gatwick service."Today is a fantastic day for WestJet as we take this important step in our journey to become a full-service global network airline" said Arved von zur Muehlen, WestJet chief commercial officer at the launch event. “The London market has quickly become an important one for us with service from six cities across Canada. It is no accident that the first transatlantic flight on the Dreamliner is to our largest international market, from our largest hub and home in Calgary." "The launch of the 787 will offer around 24,000 more Gatwick-Calgary seats per year on the same number of aircraft, and its highly fuel-efficient engines will also help us in our ongoing mission to become the UK’s most sustainable airport," says Guy Stephenson, Gatwick Airport chief commercial officer.