Delta Air Lines and Korean Air will pay a combined $550 million in exchange for stakes in Canada’s WestJet, the three companies announced in a joint statement on Friday.
Delta, headquartered in Georgia, will invest $330 million to acquire a 15% stake in the Calgary-based carrier, while Korean Air will commit $220 million to acquire a 10% stake. The partnership will increase connectivity between each airline’s existing international routes, which are focused primarily throughout North America, Europe, and Asia.
Walter Cho, Chairman and CEO of Korean Air and Hanjin Group, said in a press release that the partnership will “create long-term value for customers through greater choice and convenience.”
Ed Bastian, Delta’s CEO, added that the investment “ensures that we remain focused on providing a world-class global network and customer experience for travelers in the United States and Canada.”
The venture, which reconceptualized prior partnership plans between WestJet and Delta that fell through in 2020, comes at an uncertain moment for travel between Canada and the US — and, for Americans, international travel in general.
Business Insider previously reported that many Canadians are opting not to travel to the US out of anger over Trump’s tariffs on their country and his repeated suggestion to make the US’s northern neighbor the 51st state.
Longwoods International, a market research consultancy, found in an April survery of 1,000 Canadian travelers that 36% of respondents said they’d planned to travel to the US in the next 12 months but decided to cancel their plans, while 60% they’re less likely to visit the US in the next year due to political reasons.
In March, WestJet Airlines vice chairman Alex Cruz told CNBC that Canadian travelers were opting for Central America over the US, and that “there’s clearly been a reaction” toward Trump’s tariff policies.
American travelers visiting other countries like Canada have also previously told BI that they have encountered increased hostility, and that negative perceptions toward Trump’s policies have carried over to Americans in general.
Delta and WestJet previously explored a joint venture aimed at better coordinating schedules for flight transits, but the initiative was shelved in 2020 after US regulators demanded that WestJet relinquish some takeoff and landing slots at New York’s LaGuardia Airport as a condition for approval.
WestJet and Korean Air did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Delta Air Lines referred BI to the original press release announcing the investment.
