Return to Transcripts main page
Quest Means Business
Trump And Haley Face Off In Critical New Hampshire Primary; Federal Appeals Court Rules Mexico Can Sue US Gunmakers; SAS Expected To Transition To SkyTeam This Year. Aired 3-4p ET
Aired January 23, 2024 - 15:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[15:00:44]
RICHARD QUEST, CNN INTERNATIONAL HOST: There is an hour to go of trading on Wall Street, having a bit of a split day, if you will. As you can see, the
Dow is down just a quarter of a percent. The NASDAQ is up roughly the same and yes, it'd be somewhere in the middle. It gives you an idea of how
investors are a little betwixt and between.
But the markets are such and the events of the day help us guide us to understand why.
Decision day in New Hampshire. Nikki Haley says she is staying in the race no matter what happens tonight.
Mexico is moving ahead with a lawsuit against US gun manufacturers.
And Netflix is diving into live programming with rights the WWE Raw. There is The Rock ringing the opening bell.
We are live from London. It is Tuesday, January 23rd. I'm Richard Quest. In London, as elsewhere, I mean, business.
Good evening.
Right now in New Hampshire, votes are being cast in a crucial Republican primary contest. There are only two contenders remaining for the Republican
side, Donald Trump and the former South Carolina governor, Nikki Haley, and she is looking to seize momentum ahead of next month.
Meanwhile, the former president is trying to score a second blowout victory. Both candidates have spoken over the last few hours.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NIKKI HALEY (R), 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We want to be stronger in New Hampshire than we were in Iowa, then we want to be stronger in South
Carolina than we were in New Hampshire. It's a building game, that's what you want when you run an election. You just want to keep getting stronger
and stronger and stronger.
DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: And I don't care if she stays in. Let her do whatever she wants. It doesn't matter. I can just
say that, there has never been a movement like this, Make America Great Again, in the history of our country. I just stopped here and I figured I'd
see three or four people and maybe walk inside and you see a crowd like this. This is organic.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We love you.
TRUMP: This is organic.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
QUEST: Kate Bolduan is in Nashua, New Hampshire with me now.
Well, what a day. What a day. I mean, it's very difficult to know what the result tonight will mean. Not so much for Trump, but for Haley.
KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: It's all unknown right now as you know, Richard.
Right now, we know -- what I can tell you, I can tell you what I've got and I can give you some context for the big caveat of it all can change in a
few minutes.
Where we are right here in Nashua, which Nashua is the second most populous city in New Hampshire. This is Ward 3 and there are nine wards where people
are voting in Nashua. This is Ward 3.
This is a precinct if you will, that in 2016, which would be the last non- incumbent primary here for Republicans, this went for Trump, this ward went for Trump in 2016. Nashua went for Trump in 2016.
Let me give you the process and then I'll give you the numbers. When people enter, they come in to check in at these tables right here, and this is
where I would say New Hampshire is really cool and New Hampshire is really unique.
If you are undeclared, which is the what they call Independents, you can then ask for a Republican or a Democratic ballot. Then you go into these
privacy screens and you can cast your ballot.
And then after that, walk over -- man, you're doing great backwards walking, photographer extraordinaire. Over here, you see that black box
that we will show you right there. That is where all of the ballots go in. They tabulate, 8:00 PM hits, Richard and then they start getting vote
counts. After that, if you are in -- once you have -- if you're undeclared, and you pull a Republican or Democratic ballot, then you have to go back
and basically re-undeclare, which I know is not the technical term, but that's the term I have been using in order to be able to do this all over
again next time around.
The latest count I have for context is that 1,426 ballots have been cast. There are just under 5000 registered voters in this ward; and in 2016 for
comparison and context 3,100 votes were cast in this ward, in this precinct, but again it's 3:00 PM Eastern Time.
[15:05:05]
We have five hours to go before polls close here and a whole lot can change -- Richard.
QUEST: It's fascinating the logistics of this, this is a minefield. So I like you're undeclare, so when you undeclare, do you then have to declare
whether you took part in the Republican or the Democratic primary? You can't just say I took part in one or the other.
BOLDUAN: If you will, for the moment you're undeclared, you walk up and you want to -- it is an Independent voter, and you can in that moment, you can
say I want to vote in the Republican primary or the Democratic primary.
We have met a lot of undeclared voters. They take pride in being an undeclared voter, many people do here in New Hampshire. When we've spoken
to voters after they have cast their ballot, look, it's unscientific. We've had a mix of people.
Again, this ward went for Trump in 2016. There are people who liked what they saw when Trump was in office and they want to see it again.
We have met quite a few voters, undeclared, and also registered Republican voters who have voted for Nikki Haley, and generally speaking, Richard, the
message is, they want something new. She is not Donald Trump.
QUEST: Okay.
BOLDUAN: And they think in age and policy and border security, her position on that, these are things I'm hearing from voters over and over again, who
are going for Nikki Haley.
QUEST: Okay. So on the Democrat side, now, I don't know the full reasons why, but Biden's name isn't on it. So he is a write-in. I believe it's
something to do with a nasty spat over local politics or something.
BOLDUAN: I think that's the perfect way to say it. I've been calling it a dispute, but a nasty spat sounds much better, so we're going to go with
that.
This is a nasty spat that happened between the Democratic National Committee, the Democratic Party, and state officials in New Hampshire all
over what New Hampshire has had for what -- half century? A century? Which is the first in the nation primary status.
Because the Democratic National Committee believed that there was criticisms that New Hampshire was not representative enough of the
Democratic base, which they wanted South Carolina to be the first primary for Democrats.
There was that where the nasty spat came in and so Joe Biden's name is not on the ballot.
QUEST: Why did they get so exercised over this rather esoteric issue other than bragging rights over who is the first? I mean, what sort of difference
does it make?
BOLDUAN: It is more than bragging rights, it is more than bragging rights. New Hampshire voters take a lot of pride, a lot of pride in vetting
candidates. It also means you will get a lot more attention from candidates.
I just last night, went to a Nikki Haley event and I met two voters from Maine, they drove two-and-a-half hours, three hours because they said we
never get any candidates coming through here because the primary is already decided by the time Maine votes. That's why people -- that's why New
Hampshire holds on to this so strongly. And that's what this spat is over.
Look, it is expected that Joe Biden is going to win, even though his name is not on the ballot, and there was kind of this last ditch write-in
effort. It's expected that he is to win this primary in New Hampshire, but you know, it doesn't look good.
QUEST: Right. Excellent. I mean, not excellent that it doesn't look good, excellent that you're there helping us understand what's going on.
Thank you, Kate. Much appreciated.
Nikki Haley says the Republican race is still wide open, whatever the political establishment may think.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HALEY: I think it's not the party uniting around President Trump, it is the political elite that are uniting around President Trump and the political
elite have never been with me my entire career, because I've always fought the political elite. It's why I want them to have term limits. It's why I
want them to have mental competency tests. It's why I think that there -- I call them out on wasteful spending, whether they're Republican or Democrat.
It's why I've said if you can't give Americans the budget on time, you shouldn't get paid. I fight the political class.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
QUEST: Now on the Democratic front, Joe Biden is holding his first joint campaign event with Kamala Harris later today. He is expected to win New
Hampshire as a write-in candidate, as Kate was just explaining.
John Avlon and Scott Jennings are with me.
All right, so we now know roughly how the whole thing works, sort of, perhaps. But John Avlon, what does Nikki Haley have to do tonight to ensure
that she is staying in the race?
JOHN AVLON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: She needs to have a massive turnout of independent voters those undeclared, as Kate talked about, and
moderate voters.
[15:10:01]
She needs to make her campaign feel like a crusade to stop the renomination of a man who even some of his past supporters acknowledge tried to destroy
our democracy by overturning the election and currently faces 91 felony counts.
This is something like a last stand for that mainstream republicanism. But now Trump is really the establishment, so she is taking on the
establishment in that regard.
QUEST: Okay, Scott Jennings, the issue of what the voters there see in a Donald Trump candidature. I was at a breakfast this morning here in Europe,
and you know, look, I'll be blunt, there is bewilderment that he is so close to sort of almost being crowned as the nominee. So what is it they
are seeing there that others don't?
SCOTT JENNINGS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, Donald Trump represents to a lot of Republican voters, the biggest middle finger you could give to the
political elites, you know, the establishment Washington crowd. You know, the institutions that have defined our politics, they've become so weak and
so mistrusted by the American people that they are willing to now perhaps for a third time, nominate Donald Trump to make all of those people at a
minimum angry and very uncomfortable beyond that.
And that's what they see in him. They want him to be the person who effectively blows up our Washington political institutions. That's number
one. Number two, immigration, still the biggest motivator for Republican voters, they see him as the strongest on immigration.
So just sort of being that change agent or chaos agent, whatever you want to say it, plus his stance on immigration, that's got all of these
Republicans coming to him.
John is right, she needs undeclared voters to show up. I would just say ultimately, the Republican nomination will be decided by Republican voters
in total and he is crushing among Republican voters. She is doing better among these undeclared, but they won't be there in the future states, and
so, you know, at the moment, it looks like Trump is on his way.
QUEST: So this is a very unfair question bearing in mind that voting is taking place now. John Avlon and then Scott, you have a go at this. When
does Nikki Haley drop out?
AVLON: I think that's premature as you indicate.
Look, I hope she doesn't, because frankly, you know this shouldn't be a coronation given how deeply flawed Donald Trump is on basic issues related
to democracy, let alone foreign policy.
He is promising not an imperial presidency, but his praise of Viktor Orban and other dictators, I think expresses the kind of administration he would
like to see, and that is totally contrary to anything resembling traditional republican values, and it is interesting New Hampshire, like
the nation, they're more self-identified Independent voters than Republicans or Democrats.
So I think that it is important for more than one percent of the American people to have a chance to vote for president before we decide on a rematch
of 2020. That doesn't seem very popular.
I also say on the immigration front, Joe Biden and Democrats and Republicans in the Senate are working on a border security bill, which
Donald Trump wants to scuttle because he really doesn't want to have the problem solved, he wants to demagogue it back to the presidency, so those
sort of facts matter. And I think that the horse race prediction, I'm not willing to go there.
QUEST: Scott?
JENNINGS: Yes, the polling has shown Trump steadily tracking well north of 50 percent tonight, even in some polls getting close to 60. If that
happens, it means he absolutely dominated among Republicans and he won a fair number of Independents as well.
For Nikki Haley, the future of a campaign mechanically often comes down to these two things -- money: Do I have any left? And two, am I tired of
smacking my face against a brick wall and getting the same result?
QUEST: Right.
JENNINGS: I mean, you know, once you run out of money and patience, that's when campaigns usually come to an end.
Now she shocks the world tonight and ties Donald Trump or beats him, then I suspect the money will flow a little bit and she can keep the ball
bouncing. But really, campaigns often keep going based on whether you have the funding to keep moving around, and that's determined by how successful
you've been in the most previous contest.
QUEST: Gentleman, grateful to you both. We've got a long way to go. I will need your assistance as we go through.
Some breaking news to bring you: The Turkish Parliament has voted to approve Sweden's bid to join NATO. Now it was expected, but it's taken two
years of delays.
Turkey has endorsed Finland back in April, as did Hungary. Hungary has not yet endorsed Sweden, giving the Nordic nation one last hurdle to clear.
It's reported that Viktor Orban has invited the Swedish prime minister to come to Budapest for further talks to actually complete the last hurdle.
[15:15:09]
QUEST MEANS BUSINESS tonight.
The Rock is joining the board of WWE's parent company, as pro wrestling heads to Netflix. They are.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
QUEST: Monday was the deadliest day for the IDF in Gaza since the ground invasion began. They say 21 soldiers were killed in the central part of the
Strip as a result of an RPG fire and the collapse of a building, the single deadliest incident so far, three soldiers were killed in an earlier
incident.
CNN's Jeremy Diamond, from Tel Aviv.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): The deadliest single day for Israeli troops in Gaza, 24 soldiers killed in action on Monday, leading
to scenes of mourning like this across Israel.
BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER (through translator): Monday was one of the hardest days since the war broke out. We lost 24 of our best
sons, the heroes who fell defending the homeland.
DIAMOND (voice over): Twenty-one of those soldiers, all reservists were killed in a single incident in central Gaza about 600 meters from the
border with Israel. They represent about 10 percent of the IDF's total losses since the beginning of the war.
The Israeli military says those troops were creating a buffer zone along the border with Israel, demolishing buildings and clearing Hamas
infrastructure to make it safe for Israelis living near the border to return to their homes.
REAR ADM. DANIEL HAGARI, ISRAEL'S CHIEF MILITARY SPOKESPERSON (through translator): It appears that around four o'clock, an RPG missile was fired
by terrorists toward a tank that was securing the force. Simultaneously, there was an explosion that resulted in the collapse of two two-story
structures, while most of the force was inside them and nearby.
DIAMOND (voice over): The Israeli military says it is investigating the incident and the exact cause of that explosion. The news rippling across
Israel, a small country of about nine million people where nearly everyone has a relative or friend in the military. And it comes as the Israeli
government is offering the longest pause in fighting to date according to AXIOS: A two-month ceasefire in exchange for the release of all the
hostages held in Gaza.
Some Israeli troops would also withdraw from population centers and Palestinian civilians would be allowed to return to northern Gaza.
[15:20:03]
An Israeli official telling CNN, many steps still need to be taken before a deal comes to fruition and Hamas is seeking an end to the war as a
condition to any deal.
Separately, two officials told CNN Israel has proposed Hamas' senior leaders could leave Gaza as part of a broader ceasefire agreement. A
spokesman for the Qatari government saying negotiators are working around the clock to reach a deal.
MAJED AL ANSARI, SPOKESPERSON, QATAR MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS: We are engaging in serious discussions with both sides. We have presented ideas to
both sides. We are getting a constant stream of replies from both sides.
DIAMOND (voice over): The lives of more than a hundred hostages hanging in the balance.
Jeremy Diamond, CNN, Tel Aviv.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
QUEST: A federal appeals court has now ruled Mexico can sue a group of US gun manufacturers. The lawsuit names brands, including Smith & Wesson,
Glock, and Colt, and it alleges that they design, market, and distribute, and sell guns in ways that arm the drug cartels.
The National Shooting Sports Foundation has called the lawsuit misplaced. The complaint was dismissed two years ago, Mexico appealed.
And now the country says up to 597,000 guns from the defendant's own list in the case are trafficked into the country each other.
The US Ambassador to Mexico says this is a top priority for the White House.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KEN SALAZAR, US AMBASSADOR TO MEXICO (through translator): Reducing the flow of weapons from the United States to Mexico is a priority for
President Biden. We know that 70 percent of weapons that cause violence here in Mexico and in the US that 70 percent come from the United States.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
QUEST: Patrick Oppmann is in Havana. All right, so they can go ahead, but where is this case going?
PATRICK OPPMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, it'd be a long time, if ever before a Mexico sees a dollar, but certainly, you know, they're asking for
$10 million from the gunmakers, so that probably should give all of those gun makers who thought this case was over with essentially, some pause.
No one is denying, Richard, that a flood of weapons sometimes bought legally on the US side of the border, then find themselves brought
illegally into Mexico. The question is how to stop that flood where it has become a very lucrative business of arming these cartels.
You know, the majority of the weapons of the Mexican government says it finds in drug-related crime come from the US and more troubling in the last
several days, they've said that they found US military grade weapons, weapons that are meant for the US military in the hands of cartels and how
those weapons have ended up in Mexico is something of a mystery, whether they've come from third countries or there is some sort of black marketing
ring going on here.
But Mexico has called on the US to investigate this immediately, because often, this means that the cartels are simply better armed than the Mexican
government, that the Mexican government, when it tries to bring the cartels to heal simply does not have the gun power to do so.
And until they can bring this flood of weapons to a halt, then they can stem that flood of weapons, they simply don't have the hope of stopping
either the drugs that flow north, or the massive amount of weapons that come back south into the hands of those cartels.
QUEST: Okay, but how does this case stop the guns? Since they are already out there, they're already in circulation, you can pretty much buy a gun in
the United States with a subway ticket.
OPPMANN: Well, and what the lawsuit says, what the Mexican government says is the gun makers are aware that hundreds of thousands of weapons that are
made legally and sold legally in the United States, those are destined for Mexico.
So they are essentially claiming the gun makers are negligent, that they know their weapons are destined for Mexico and they're turning a blind eye
and they feel that if they see this kind of massive judgment, $10 million, that will force the gun makers to take some steps to make it harder for
these weapons to flow south.
But again, this is a very lucrative business and it has been going on for some time, and no one has been able to stop it so far.
QUEST: But it's not the reality here, Patrick. You and I would have retired. By the time this gets them any further -- much further.
OPPMANN: You're probably right. But remember, Richard this case was dead in the water until yesterday. An appeals court in Boston has revived it. You
know, there is some political undertones to this case, because of course, you know, there's a lot of corruption in Mexico. The Mexican government has
already admitted to the official links that there are with drug traffickers, they want to blame the US for all of their problems, and it
goes back to the old saying of Mexico so far from God, so close the United States, that that's sort of the tragedy of their country.
But you know, there is certainly some finger pointing that should happen south of the border, but for the government of Andres Manuel Lopez-Obrador,
the president of Mexico, they say this is firmly, the US government is to blame for this problem, you know, whether or not a lawsuit will fix it or
not, who knows?
But certainly the gun makers in the United States are taking some notes today when you're talking about $10 million judgment, whether or not that
will ever come about, we'll have to see.
[15:25:24]
QUEST: Patrick, glad to have you with us. Patrick, thank you.
Netflix is making a push into live sports. It's a $5 billion deal to stream pro wrestling. WWE Raw will move to Netflix in North America and the UK
starting next year. And look at that, that shows you, so TKO, the parent company rose more than 16 percent, and Netflix put on a bit of weight as
well.
And TKO's newest board member is the actor, Dwayne Johnson, rang the opening bell today on Wall Street. Back in his wrestling days, he was of
course, The Rock.
As for Netflix, it is looking to take on its rivals by adding things like live programming and video games, and Q4 will be after the bell.
Anna Stewart is with me. Anna, so what's the significance? I know everybody wants to do live sports, our own WBD, everybody is getting into live
sports, but there is only so much live sports to go around.
ANNA STEWART, CNN REPORTER: Well, you see, there are is quite a lot of live sports, as it turns out. Amazon, Comcast, they're all doing it and you can
see why. Three reasons I'll give you. One, content, which is a bit thin on the ground for streamers given all the strikes of last year. Number two, it
is the continuation of core cutting and one of the sort of stickiest viewers of cable really are those that love sports. And thirdly, I think
this is just an example of new revenue. New growth, for some of these streamers. It's increasingly hard to battle for subscribers.
I myself subscribe to far too many of these companies and people are slimming down. It's a cost living crisis. They have to really fight to get
those viewers.
QUEST: I'm looking at this graph, which you can also see, bring it back please. And you see the way Netflix from down at $340.00 now up to $490.00.
The thing about Netflix is that famous old line, talk of my death is greatly exaggerated.
STEWART: Well, look there, October. See what that share price is down, it is up more than 40 percent since the last earnings report, which showed
great growth and subscribers and that's likely what we'll get after the bell when we get that earnings report again. NETFLIX currently has,
Richard, more subscribers than the next two big streamers, Disney+ and Max combined.
So --
QUEST: Which do you watch most? Which do you watch most?
STEWART: I honestly watch Netflix, Amazon, Disney. Hey You and Sky, and I'm willing to add more once they come overseas. I am willing to subscribe to
Paramount and Max, I'll add those in.
QUEST: I think you've got more money than sense.
STEWART: Definitely.
QUEST: Thank you, Anna Stewart, good to have you. Thank you as always.
All right, you want to know what I do? I am Netflix, Amazon -- well, you get Amazon with Prime, don't you? So you get that anyway, and I think
that's about it. I cut the cord. So I was pleased about that. I finally made that decision, and I get Max free for the moment.
As we continue tonight, QUEST MEANS BUSINESS, Donald Trump is a favorite in New Hampshire but the state is no stranger to upset victories: A campaign
that won against all odds.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[15:32:09]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And a vote for Nikki Haley --
EVAN MCKEND, CNN NATIONAL POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: Another vote for Nikki. Five of six for Nikki Haley.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And a vote for Nikki Haley.
MCKEND: Nikki Haley. So Nikki Haley has captured all six votes here in Dixville Notch.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
QUEST: Oh, I love it. It's part of electoral folklore and tradition in the United States. Dixville Notch, which is a tiny community in New Hampshire,
it's always the first vote at midnight. They all get together there, and we get the result.
Six votes for Nikki Haley, a path to the rest of the state won't be anywhere near as you all -- oh, look at that. I do love the way they do
this.
New Hampshire has produced some upsets. In 1984, Senator Gary Hart had expected to win the Democratic primary there.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GARY HART, FORMER US SENATOR: And I want you to know that we will never forget you, that you have done what we have said throughout the course of
the last few weeks could be done. And that is that the people of New Hampshire could literally have the power to change the course of American
history.
[CHEERING AND APPLAUSE]
(END VIDEO CLIP)
QUEST: Oh, a bit of monkey business paved to all of that. Senator John McCain scored a surprise victory over George W. Bush in 2000. Bush went on
to win the nomination.
Now eight years ago, Donald Trump earned his first ever primary victory in New Hampshire, propelled him to the top of a crowded field.
Jeff Zeleny is in Manchester, New Hampshire.
I do love this, this outsized importance that we give to a state. I guarantee you, we can find any statistic that will prove it's the most
predictive, or it's the least predictive or it's never predictive, or anything like that. It's fascinating.
JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Richard, we can find all of those caveats, all of those statistics, but the reality is the
reason New Hampshire is important, yes, it goes first in terms of the primary following Iowa, but it's also historically been an important
general election battleground state.
Donald Trump, of course lost here in New Hampshire in 2016, really narrowly to Hillary Clinton by a much wider margin to Joe Biden. But talk about the
importance of New Hampshire, think back to 2000. Al Gore sure wishes he would have won the New Hampshire electorate, that would have put him to the
White House.
So that's why New Hampshire is a little bit more important than just simply a metric here in the primary, but that long list of history, it certainly
is a fascinating one, and I'm also remembering Hillary Clinton back here in 2008.
On primary day at this very hour, the Obama campaign, Barack Obama, they believe that they were on their way to a glide path to the nomination. She
won here, came back from that third place showing in Iowa and went on to the longest Democratic primary fight in this nation's recent history.
[15:35:11]
So, yes, there are surprises here. I'm not sure it feels like a surprise this afternoon here in New Hampshire, Richard, but we'll see.
QUEST: So one of the things we always talk about with New Hampshire and Iowa, and lesser to an extent, South Carolina, is it is the last bastion,
if you will of retail politics. You have to go and eat the chili and the apple pie and meet people. And once we get into the bigger states, it's
much more about television and big events.
ZELENY: It certainly is. That's what history would tell us.
But Richard, I can tell you after covering seven of these, seven presidential campaigns, it has changed really bit by bit, year by year,
largely Donald Trump has changed that.
His whole -- you know, has these big rallies, and really does not do much of that retail politicking himself. Some of his rival candidates do, but
year by year, New Hampshire and Iowa have felt as much like a soundstage for a national campaign as an actual local location.
Of course, there are interactions with voters, there is no doubt about that. But it certainly has changed with technology and other things as
well.
But look, New Hampshire can deliver surprises and that's what Nikki Haley is desperately hoping for here tonight.
QUEST: Glad you're there to watch over and to report back. Thank you. We'll talk to you tomorrow. Very kind. Thank you.
There are three global airline alliances. Sky team, of course is one of the largest and it's getting even bigger this year.
SAS, Scandinavian is moving over from Star Alliance as Air France KLM takes a hefty stake in the Scandinavian carrier. And then the reverse, the
Italian Airline, ITA, is likely to make the opposite move, it's going to join Star once it's been acquired de facto by Lufthansa.
In recent years, it's joint ventures that have grown more popular, the JVs, and arguably the global alliances have lost some of their shine. It leaves
the aviation world just questioning what role they serve.
Now, I realized that Patrick Roux, the CEO of SkyTeam, I've just suggested that the world is flat by asking what role does the alliances serve, but
Patrick, what role do you serve now?
PATRICK ROUX, CEO, SKYTEAM: Good evening, Richard. Thank you for having me.
Well, it's a great period for the Alliances. COVID has shown one thing is that, it is the beauty of being all together and being part of family, and
an alliance is more than a combination of airlines.
First of all, SkyTeam is the most integrated Alliance. In SkyTeam, you have a lot of joint ventures, you have a lot of equity partnerships. So it
creates a very integrated benefits for the customers.
And we --
QUEST: What's the one thing that you would like to move forward on faster in terms of integrating because I can understand why the airlines, to a
certain extent like, but from a passenger point of view. What's the big project that you want to get done?
ROUX: Well, we want to have even more seamlessness, more fluidity for a business traveler that is combining in his trip different SkyTeam airlines.
We started a few years ago, SkyTeam was the first air alliance to launch, you know, the big red sign sky priority to give a special recognition to
our elite passengers, and we want to extend that.
We are in the process of extending that to digital tools, so that a customer, a Delta customer, that is traveling on Korean Air, for instance,
can use his Delta app to check in, to track their bag, to select their seats to check the flight information on the Delta app.
QUEST: So all of which raises -- so you're going to lose SAS, and sorry, you're going to gain in SAS, and you're going to lose ITA. You've already
gained Virgin. Is this what we should expect as consolidation happens, that airlines will move between the alliances although frankly, it's an
extremely expensive business to move alliances.
ROUX: It's a natural continuation of the consolidation. The more benefits we are creating within the JV, the JVs or within equity groups, then we can
extend that to be your family.
[15:40:00]
I want to take an example of the commercial policies for instance, when you have a JV between Delta and Air France KLM, those two airlines are allowed
to align their policies, which is not the case by definition among Alliance members because they are still competitors.
But what we are developing is, for instance, joint contracting for corporate solutions. So, SkyTeam is acting as a third party, so, we are
totally complying with the competition law to build a joint offer to the corporate customers for instance.
QUEST: Right. Scott Kirby of United is decidedly frustrated at Boeing and the Max 9 and the 900s. You've got members that have got the 900s. Are you
frustrated that Boeing, the way this has been dealt?
ROUX: You know the industry, Richard, it's always frustrating to have something wrong in this industry. Something that is that is -- go against
your plans, and here, the plans is really to go towards sustainability efforts that our members are really pursuing actively.
And yes, that's an example where it will slow down this effort. So it's also the beauty of being part of a family because on sustainability, we are
very active and we are building, we are launching exchanges of best practices among our members.
We are running a friendly competition called the Sustainable Flight Challenge. That is really a way to test new ideas, to exchange those ideas,
and to adopt those ideas and to accelerate the transition.
It was 72 flights here, and a lot -- thousands of ideas were exchanged.
QUEST: Patrick, I'm grateful that you came over to talk to us. Thank you, sir. Very kind.
And that's QUEST MEANS BUSINESS for the moment. At the top of the hour, there will be a dash to the closing bell, now Living Golf.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[15:59:48]
QUEST: Less than a minute to go of trading, the dash to the closing bell and the Dow has retreated below 38,000 after crossing the threshold
yesterday, down just over a hundred points or so, but it's still, the triple stack shows the way the other markets have gone so we can't read too
much into today's down day on the Dow.
And that's the dash to the bell, I am Richard Quest, whatever you're up to in the hours ahead, I hope it is profitable. On Wall Street, the bell is
ringing.
"The Lead" with Jake Tapper is next.
END
