Delta Air Lines' 2014 network strategy entails bypassing Tokyo and leveraging partnerships

Two main pillars are driving Delta Air Lines' network strategy for 2014 - capitalising on the so-called new-generation partnerships in which the airline takes stakes in foreign carriers, and continuing to serve strategic points in Asia directly as flow traffic over Japan becomes less important for the airline.

During the past year Seattle has emerged as Delta's key US west coast gateway to Asia, and the carrier has been furiously adding new domestic service to maximise feed to the Pacific. Its latest domestic addition in Seattle is San Jose, which is another market where Delta is opting to capture its own connecting traffic rather than rely on a long-standing codeshare pact with Seattle-based Alaska Air Group.

A joint venture with Virgin Atlantic set to launch 1-Jan-2014 is a important lever for Delta to pull finally in order to achieve profitability in New York after working during the last couple of years to improve its competitive position against American and United in one of most important corporate markets in the US.