Delta, China Airlines delay plan to sell seats on each other's flights

ATLANTA - Delta Air Lines and China Airlines have agreed to postpone selling seats on each others&#39; flights as the Asian carrier investigates a deadly crash. <br> <br> A China Airlines 747 broke apart Saturday over the Taiwan Straits on a flight to Hong Kong, killing 225 people. <br> <br> The airlines had planned to announce the agreement -- which was to have begun Saturday -- with a ceremony Friday in Taipei, Taiwan. Delta spokeswoman Catherine Stengel said today that the postponement was a mutual decision between Atlanta-based Delta and China Airlines, Taiwan&#39;s largest carrier. <br> <br> Such agreements, called codesharing, allow an airline to sell seats on another carrier as a way to offer passengers more destinations. <br> <br> Delta has a similar agreement with Korean Airlines that was delayed until last month because of operational problems at the Korean carrier. <br> <br> Stenel said within the past year, China Airlines passed an operational review mandated by the Federal Aviation Administration. <br> <br> The agreement would allow Delta to sell seats on China Airlines&#39; flights from Los Angeles, San Francisco and New York to Taiwan. China Airlines planned to sell Delta seats from Los Angeles and San Francisco to five U.S. cities. <br> <br> After a series of crashes in the 1990s, China Airlines became known for having one of the world&#39;s worst airline safety records -- 12 deadly accidents since 1969.