Delta Suspends Pact With Korean Air

In an abrupt reversal, Delta Air Lines Inc. on Friday suspended its flying partnership with Korean Air Lines, a day after another crash involving the Asian carrier.

Two days earlier, Delta had said it stood by the “code-share” arrangement despite the dissemination of an internal Korean Air report raising safety concerns at the carrier.

“Delta would not code-share with any carrier it did not believe to be safe,” Delta spokesman Clay McConnell said Wednesday. He reaffirmed the statement after the crash Thursday of a Korean Air cargo jet in Shanghai, China.

But on Friday, Delta announced suspension of its partnership and said it would not book passengers on flights operated by Korean Air pending review of the airline’s operations. The Atlanta-based carrier also said it would begin contacting its customers booked on Korean Air flights to help make alternative arrangements.

Korean Air’s internal safety review stemmed from the carrier’s troublesome track record: More than 700 people killed in 20 years.

By contrast, United Airlines, the world’s biggest carrier, has had 140 passenger deaths in the same two decades.

The cause of Thursday’s crash, which occurred shortly after takeoff, is under investigation, but an airline executive said it may have been the result of a terrorist act. It killed the three-member crew and at least five people on the ground.