It refers to the highest level of cooperation in the airline industry where two different business entities operate certain routes together and share profits.
Code share, which many of you may have heard of, allows a partner airline to sell a portion of seats on another airline’s flight, but under a joint venture. In other words, an airline can use all the seats on a partner’s flight. In addition, while alliances such as SkyTeam and Star Alliance just share miles or lounges, joint ventures not only operate together, but they also share costs and profits. For instance, as the joint venture between Korean Air and Delta Air Lines was approved, consumers could book and use all routes of Delta Air Lines just like they did Korean Air. Furthermore, they can earn the same amount of Korean Air’s SkyPass miles from boarding Delta Air Lines’ flights.