Alitalia extends SkyTeam Cargo membership to U.S.
Alitalia, will join the Atlanta-based joint venture that sells outbound international cargo capacity in the U.S. market for Air France, Delta and Korean Air on June 1, said Ben Darnell, Delta's managing director of Air Logistics.
The four airlines are members of the SkyTeam Cargo alliance that jointly sells air cargo services and includes AeroMexico, KLM and CSA of the Czech Republic.
The U.S. joint venture will begin selling space on Alitalia flights out of Miami and then add the rest of Alitalia's system within 45 days, Darnell said at the Cargo Network Services conference in Orlando, Fla. The extra time is needed to iron out any kinks with the rest of the system and that people are in place to handle the extra workload. There are 48 people in the U.S. sales force.
Bernard Frattini, the man who has led the U.S. joint venture since its inception 3.5 years ago, has been called back to Air France headquarters to help in the consolidation with KLM, Darnell said. The new CEO, effective in August, will be J.D. Cha. of Korean Air Lines.