LATAM announces departure from oneworld

LATAM has announced its departure from global airline alliance, oneworld. From 1 May, 2020, LATAM will no longer be part of OneWorld.

Photo by Duy Khang Tran | AeroNewsX

Royal Air Maroc is to take LATAM’s place within the alliance, joining oneworld on 1 April.

Customer benefits linked to the carrier’s alliance membership will be valid up until 30 April. However LATAM says it will not offer oneworld frequent flyer member benefits to Royal Air Maroc Safar Flyer members and vice versa.

Originally, LATAM was expected to leave the alliance in October 2020, however this has of course been brought forward. LATAM joined oneworld back in 1999.

Delta Air Lines announced the purchase of 20% of LATAM back in September, signifying the carrier’s value within the South American market.

Delta Air Lines is part of the SkyTeam Alliance, however LATAM will not be following in its footsteps. In fact, the CEO of Delta, Ed Bastian, says that airline alliances are not meeting their potential.

LATAM will continue to have bilateral agreements with all oneworld members except Delta Air Lines competitor, American Airlines.