DALLAS — American Airlines and Delta are reviving a deal that lets them put passengers on each other’s planes when travelers are stranded by disruptions such as winter storms and computer outages.
The new deal took effect on Wednesday. The airlines aren’t disclosing financial terms such as how much they charge to accommodate the other’s passengers.
Both airlines and their passengers figure to benefit if the agreement means fewer travelers get stuck at airports.
Henry Harteveldt, a travel-industry analyst for Atmosphere Research Group, said if bad weather strikes a major hub airport used by one airline, its connecting passengers could be rerouted through another city on the other carrier.
“This arrangement will help save travelers time and sanity when one airline is affected by a problem and the other is operating,” he said.
American and Delta are the nation’s two largest carriers. They stopped cooperating to handle each other’s stranded passengers in September 2015. Delta complained it was taking far more passengers who were rebooked from American than it sent the other way. Delta demanded a premium for the imbalance.
American Airlines spokesman Matt Miller said neither airline will get more generous terms than the other under the new agreement.
American and Delta have similar agreements with United Airlines. Southwest Airlines does not have agreements to put its passengers on other carriers, a spokesman said.
