We have tickets in June, using FF miles on Delta partners, Air France and Alitalia. Does anyone know whether those tickets would still be good if Delta strikes or goes bankrupt?

Nobody knows yet.

While a much smaller and newer airline without partners, when Independence Air disappeared several months ago, everything was worth nothing - and their FF miles became worthless, as I expect did their FF tickets.

Bankruptcy is not the issue - everyones in bankruptcy - as one flight attendant said on a recent flight "we know you have lots of choices of bankrupt airlines to fly, so thank you for flying with us".

Everyone can only guess - my guess is that those with FF tickets are way at the end of the line for getting alternate flights.

Nerve=racking, I can imagine.

If we already have tickets on those carriers, we will not need alternate flights. Can Air France and Alitalia suddenly take our seats back?

What scary news. We have 2 business class ff tickets on Air France through Delta. Depart June 10 returning July 7.
Another poster mentioned a SAS strike.
We have another set of paid for tickets to St. Petersburg on SAS. I wonder if this whole vacation will take place?

You are talking about a trip over 3 months away-chill !

So many airlines are in bankruptcy or have just emerged or are in precarious financial health that one would never travel if they had to obsess about an airline. Not how I like to do business, but other than walking or swimming to detination, we all have limited options.

Unfortunately, we do not have unlimited money to be able to "chill" and not worry about the hotel deposits, etc. we will lose.

Good question and one that I bet many here would like to know about. May I suggest that you contact Delta for a definitive answer, and then post here what you learn? You may want to also contact SkyTeam, as that is the alliance to which all these carriers belong.
BTW, do you already have the tickets issued (as opposed to just flights reserved)?

I've called Delta and they said that what they know is the same as what the "media" knows. In other words, they'll be the last to know like us. They also said that they are operation "business as usual". Says absolutely nothing. My tickets are non refundable, we're (3) leaving pit to str on 6/1 and return 7/1, and they are not even thinking of giving any money back on my tickets. So I'm holding my breath and hope for the best since, if they do fold and not honor, my month long trip we've been prepaying and planning everything on will be a thing of the past since we've been saving for quite a while to do our dream trip. I've purchased these tickets 3 month ago...so I'm praying that everything works out while in the meantime I'm like a bowl of jello

Digbydog,
You are actually better off with flights on Delta's partners. The usual advice with FF miles on bankrupt airlines is to use them ASAP and on their stable partners.

As long as Delta does not LIQUIDATE, the partners should honor your tickets. Strikes only affect the actual airline, not partners.
Even if Delta decides to shed partners or leave the SkyTeam alliance, there is always a grandfather window of a few months. And tickets that are already obtained are usually covered.
If Delta decides to liquidates, that is another issue. The partners will not have to honor the tickets since liquidation means the partnership no longer exists. But for PR purposes probably will still honor them. Best bet is to call the partner airlines and ask.
Unfortunately, the US consumer laws regarding liquidated airlines' tickets do NOT apply to FF tickets, only paid ones.

Seamus, I haven't asked Delta, because I don't trust what they tell me. Every time I talk to someone there about our flights, I get a different answer. Maybe Air France or Alitalia would be able to tell me?? By the way, we have E- tickets.

Niblette, you make me feel a little better. Thanks!

It's not like Delta can't be trusted. It's that they don't even know. They don't know if the union will strike or not. And they don't know if AF, KL, CO or other partners will honor their tickets or not.

Maybe you can call AF and AZ and ask them instead.

Good that you already have tickets. As others have noted, it can be utterly confusing - and nerve wracking - to try to get a definitive answer in advance. You might take some comfort in these facts:
1. Your tickets are on partner airlines, not on Delta, so even if DL strikes the partner flights should not be affected. They may be more crowded if they pick up the slack from cancelled Delta flights, but they would still fly.
2. Worst case scenario is Delta going out of business entirely. File that under possible but not likely. And even if it does happen, your tickets are on partner airlines and you already have tickets issued. What the partner airlines would do is not predictable, but chances are you will be OK.
3. Have you purchased trip insurance? It may be worth it to reduce your anxiety about potential financial losses. Make sure that any policy you get covers such situations. Best place I have found - and often recommended on this board - is www.insuremytrip.com where you can compare price and coverage on various policies.

And just in the way of being prepared, I would be sure to have with me a list of contact information (including email and phone numbers) for the places you have reserved. In the event that you are delayed overnight you would need to let them know so they don't think you are a no-show and cancel your reservation. And, BTW, if such a delay did happen many trip insurance policies would cover the cost.

"the partners should honor your tickets."

Says who? If (God forbid) Delta goes under, will AF and AZ really "honour" a committment from a bankrupt company that, as far as AF and AZ shareholders are concerned, is quite unconnected to them?

If I ran AF or AZ, the last thing in the world I'd do would be to ship passengers without any income. My real customers would be pissed off, my shareholders would lynch me - and in AZ's parlous state I'd probably be breaking the law.

Is there any real evidence solvent airlines honour FF deals from bankrupt, foreign former partners? Because if there isn't, Digbydog can do no more than keep digbydog's fingers crossed. If that's too uncertain, avoid any further financial commitment and try to get your deposits back.

I share your skepticism that other airlines would honor your tickets. This is something that is frequently suggested here as a scheme to avoid problems due to airline strikes or disappearance.

First, Delta is already bankrupt and airlines have been honoring tickets - along with tickets from almost every other legacy carrier - everyone is, or has been, in bankruptcy. So there IS evidence that partners accept tickets in bankruptcy.

Second, a strike. No historical information here about partners accepting tickets - despite multiple threats, airline strikes have been rather rare of late.

Third, disappearance of Delta (is this what you really mean by bankruptcy?). Again, no historical info here - TWA and Pan Am did actually disappear, but that was many years ago. Can't think of a major carrier that has disappeared in era of FF miles with many partners (Independence Air and Hooters Air do not count).

While if it were my vacation, I would be stressed, I am also wondering what you stand to lose beyond the obvious vacation. Have you actually checked with your hotel deposits to see if they are truly non-refundable if you can not get there.

My SO has 45 years in the "industry" and we have redeemed our DAL miles for partners' trips.
M