The only flights available were on Continental's code-share partner, Northwest.

Mr. Siegel has said he wants to strengthen the carrier's three hubs, fly more regional jets and find a code-share partner.

Neither Continental nor Northwest, which are Delta's two main code-share partners, joined Delta in imposing caps on air fares.

But when he got to the airport he discovered that the flight was on United's code-share partner, US Airways, which introduced a complication.

Ensure good service from code-share partners.

(Its code-share partner, Delta, does not have a weight limit but the carrier must fit under your seat.)

The airlines will report back to the Defense Department on the operations of their code-share partners.

Mr. Siegel also said yesterday that increasing the company's regional jet service and finding a code-share partner remained critical.

Even Aer Lingus, a code-share partner of Delta, provided 12 inches more.

With Altéa, airlines outsource their IT operations onto a community platform which allows them to share information with both airline alliance and code-share partners.