Delta joins bid to rescue bankrupt airline Skymark

Good news for Japan. Delta, with its wonderful service and quality, is the result of market reforms, ie, deregulation, in the US in the late 70s. These are the same kind of reforms everyone wants Japan, whose airlines operate in a regulated environment, to adopt.

Happy days ahead!

What's worse, heavy flight attendants or refusing to hire heavy people to be flight attendants not because of Aviation rules but because of company policy on hiring hotties.

harvey peker - so 50 something 90kg churlish battle-axes who treat customers with contempt VS young, fit Asian hotties who give great service with a smile?

Is this a trick question?

So I'm guessing that this means that they will be pulling flights from the Japanese airports in the same fashion that Virgin Atlantic did after Delta brought a stake....

Obviously that's sarcasm.. Though I wouldn't put it past them.

I was born and grew up in NY City, so I use the origins of both downtown and uptown accordingly. Downtown is probably more the financial and business district of any major city or town.

Gotta love the body-shaming on this here comment section! Criticize the Delta flight attendants because they can't fit into the tight Skymark uniforms and can't be stared at by the men.

What's worse, heavy flight attendants or refusing to hire heavy people to be flight attendants not because of Aviation rules but because of company policy on hiring hotties.

Delta doesn:t have rights to fly domestic routes unless it creates a subsidary company which would be Japanese owned. Any case 20% investment woudn:t mean Delta cabin attendants, it is an investment, the staff would still be Skymark.

@LFR

Look up "downtown" in a dictionary. It's called the "city centre" in the UK

Hmmm...downtown is usually South and uptown usually North....so it depends on where you start.

Makes perfect sense. It's a common convention to refer to places or locations that lie north relative to some central location as "up" and those lying to the south as "down." People say "Up north in Canada" for a reason. They don't say, "down north." People call Australia the land "down under," not the land "up over." I drive up to Colorado from New Mexico and I most certainly don't drive up to Mexico from New Mexico.

What I'm curious about is the laughable prospects that Delta will ever be allowed to take one of those coveted domestic flight slots mentioned in the article. When it comes to Japanese protectionism of local markets, a combination of "cold day" and "hell" seems to me the best description of Delta's chances that their bid will be accepted.

Sure, I'm willing to entertain the possibility that Skymark owners will give Delta's bid a glance, however cursory. But I certainly won't hold my breath waiting for them to leave the herd and give Delta a foothold in a closely protected market.

"Intrepid believes this plan offers the best opportunity to preserve Skymark as Japan’s third-largest independent carrier..."

Independent in what respect? It's about to be co-owned by a foreign airline that's sold me my worst flying experiences. I hope JAL raises holy hell about Delta getting slots at Haneda when slots were denied to them.

Stewardesses is an outdated term from the 1960s and 1970s that has been replaced by "flight attendant"

Never travelled with Delta, but any interruption in the cozy domestic flight market would be welcomed.

downtown is usually South and uptown usually North....so it depends on where you start.

That makes no sense to me at all.

My recent experiences of Delta are of budget airline service with regular airline prices. We can but hope that their operations out of Haneda will at least offer budget prices to match their crappy service.

Sherman: I could easily.

Hmmm...downtown is usually South and uptown usually North....so it depends on where you start.

I wish they'd stop referring to Haneda as a "downtown" airport, as though it were located in the middle of Shinjuku or something.

To the outsider ALL of Tokyo is downtown it seems!

Any benefit to the passengers? No, so let them work...work hard for the investors.

JapanGal: I doubt the Delta stewardesses could fit into the famous Skymark mini skirt uniforms !

I wish they'd stop referring to Haneda as a "downtown" airport, as though it were located in the middle of Shinjuku or something.

Well, I hope they do not put the rude Delta Stewardesses on board.