Virgin Atlantic weighs joining SkyTeam Virgin Atlantic is likely to join the SkyTeam global airline alliance following its far-reaching move to form a transatlantic joint venture with Delta Air Lines of the US, according to its chief commercial officer. In an interview with the Financial Times, Julie Southern says it will "probably make sense" for Virgin to become a member of the SkyTeam Alliance, although she stresses no final decision has been taken. Virgin's willingness to consider joining SkyTeam, and its planned joint venture with Delta, highlight the sweeping changes facing Sir Richard Branson's UK airline. It is contemplating an end to its much-cherished status as an independent carrier, as it pursues root-and-branch reforms of its business model. Sir Richard established Virgin Atlantic in 1984 to give British Airways a run for its money, and made a virtue of his airline being a free spirit in the aviation industry. Success was built on its quirky brand and friendly customer service. But Virgin has been forced to reassess its strategy after failing to stop British Airways creating a powerful transatlantic joint venture with American Airlines in 2011. Virgin's planned partnership with Delta is its response to this joint venture, and Ms Southern says in her first interview since unveiling the deal last December: "Being able to compete with BA-AA is pretty important to us . . . As others join together, it's not that we wouldn't have had a future, but it would have been a more and more challenged future. Dreamliner "pain in the neck" The three year delay in the Boeing 787 Dreamliner entering commercial service has been a "pain in the neck" for Virgin Atlantic, says Julie Southern, the airline's chief commercial officer. This pain manifested itself in Virgin's 2011-12 results, when it reported a £80.2m pre-tax loss, which was partly blamed on a 32 per cent increase in fuel costs. The 787 sets new standards in fuel efficiency for long-haul aircraft, and Virgin has ordered 16 of these twin-engine jets - but Boeing has pushed back the delivery timetable for the airline from 2011 to 2014. The 787 entered service more than three years late in 2011 due to technology challenges and outsourcing problems, and the grounding of the Dreamliner last month because of a safety scare about its batteries risks creating new delays with deliveries to airlines. Virgin is sticking to its Dreamliner order, but Ms Southern says: "It is a real pain in the neck that the Dreamliner has been delayed." Virgin's Dreamliners are due to replace some of the four-engine Airbus A340 aircraft in its fleet, which are less fuel-efficient than the 787. She goes on to say Virgin will now assess the case for joining SkyTeam. It will probably make sense for us to do it . . . We will look at SkyTeam, and I suspect in due course you may see us joining SkyTeam, but we'll only do it if it makes economic sense to the business. SkyTeam could generate new sales opportunities for Virgin because the alliance provides a foundation on which to form code-share agreements between its 19 member airlines. SkyTeam could also make Virgin more attractive to its customers because business passengers get the chance to use the airport lounges of other airlines in the alliance, and redeem their frequent flyer points on these carriers. But there could be downsides - Virgin's greatest strength is its brand, and this could be damaged if customers had a bad experience with other SkyTeam member airlines. "The real skill in this will be taking the commercial benefits that we can get through co-operation but keeping the brand vibrant," says Ms Southern. Still, her immediate focus is on Delta, which plans to buy a 49 per cent stake in Virgin for $360m, as well as form the transatlantic joint venture. Virgin and Delta will pool revenues and profits in their partnership, as they jointly sell flights between the UK and the US, Canada and Mexico, in a move that will give more choices to customers. Virgin has six daily flights from London's Heathrow airport to New York's JFK and Newark hubs. By combining schedules with Delta, the two airlines can offer nine daily flights on this core transatlantic route - compared with the 12 jointly operated by British Airways and American Airlines. Ms Southern highlights how the partnership should provide Virgin with a huge source of new passengers - Delta's US customer base. "We felt whilst we have a fantastic market presence in the UK . . . we clearly struggled to recreate that from the US point of sale," says Ms Southern, who originally joined Virgin in 2000 as finance director after a similar role at Porsche's UK business. She adds that Virgin, which carried 5.4m passengers last year compared with Delta's 164.6m, will provide about 75 per cent of the seating capacity inside the joint venture. This reflects the limited scale of Delta's operations into the UK, particularly at Heathrow. Beyond the Delta joint venture, the other big change to Virgin's business model is the start of its first-ever short-haul operations next month - beginning with flights between Heathrow and Manchester airports. Virgin has been stirred into doing short-haul flying after it lost out to International Airlines Group, British Airways" parent, in a bid battle last year for BMI British Midland. BMI was an important source of transfer passengers at Heathrow for Virgin's long-haul flights, but it has now combined with British Airways. Ms Southern is hoping Virgin's new domestic routes will provide a significant source of transfer passengers. She is honest enough to admit she is "very disappointed" not to be chosen to become Virgin Atlantic's chief executive - Craig Kreeger, previously an American Airlines" manager, took up the role this month. But she is not planning to leave. "Having led the Delta deal and brought that off, I'm very committed to bringing it to fruition now," she says.