WestJet and Delta said to be resubmitting transborder JV application

Canada’s WestJet and Delta reportedly intend to resubmit their plans for a transborder joint venture, eight months after the carriers pulled their last application to the US DOT. WestJet CE Ed Sims reportedly said the two airlines remain dedicated to such an endeavour. While WestJet declined to confirm Sims’ exact words at the event and a recording was not made available, the airline says on 23 July that it is “committed to enhancing our strong partnership to increase transborder competition and bring more benefits to travellers”. “We are working together to decide our next steps in that evolution,” WestJet adds. Atlanta-based Delta declined to comment. Last November, the two airlines withdrew their application for a transborder joint venture saying the DOT’s conditions for antitrust immunity approval were “arbitrary and capricious”. The DOT had tentatively approved the JV a month earlier. It said at the time that in light of the downturn in passenger commercial air traffic due to the coronavirus pandemic, antitrust immunity would be appropriate to help the industry back on its feet.<br/>