The number of alliances in the airline industry soared by 38% to 500 in the year to spring 1998, according to AirlineBusiness, a trade magazine partly because there are usually national barriers to foreign ownership.
During the past year, Delta was named domestic "Airline of the Year" by the readers of Travel Weekly magazine, was named the "Top Tech-Friendly U.S. Airline" by PCWorld magazine for its innovation in technology and won the Business Travel News Annual Airline Survey.
The carrier also was named best North American airline for international travel and best North American airline in-flight experience (as voted on by readers of U.S. magazineBusiness Traveler).