Slow motion: as U.S. carriers expand alliances, Colombia's Alianza Summa says it can wait.

Eager to pinch Latin American passengers from American Airlines, the No. 1 U.S. carrier serving the region, U.S. airlines Delta, Continental and Northwest, say they will let passengers book flights through either of the other two carriers.

Delta's code-sharing alliance opens routes for travelers who might prefer Delta's hub in Atlanta or Continental's hubs in Newark and Houston. It's part of Delta's strategy to draw in partners around the globe through such agreements, more of which Delta CEO Leo Mullin has said would make unnecessary the billions of dollars spent by the U.S. government bailing out terrorism-beleaguered airlines. Governments in both countries must sanction such deals.

Delta previously signed code arrangements with Aeromexico and recently got approval from the Colombian government to partner with Alianza Summa, the alliance of Colombian carriers Avianca and Aces. Continental also code shares with Panama's Copa. American's business in Latin America now accounts for more than US$2 billion of the airline's $17.3 billion in annual operating revenues, according to Miami consultancy Aviation Management Services. Delta sells $500 million and partner Continental sells $900 million in the region.

Despite the chance to pull in paying customers from Delta's business and to build a more effective competitor against American, Alianza Summa CEO Juan Emilio Posada says his carrier is in no hurry to go global.

Summa is moving toward closer ties with Delta and with Air France. Bogota and Washington have cleared it to code share with Delta on U.S. flights, and on select flights within the United States. This follows a trans-Atlantic code share with Air France and other commercial links with both carriers. Summa's next goal is to put Deltas code on its flights within and south of Colombia.

Yet the Colombian alliance is not about to join SkyTeam, the global alliance led by Delta and Air France, says Posada. Deals with Delta and Air France that focus on its "geographical areas of significance," says Posada, "provide faster returns than moving into a global alliance at once."

Match point. Global alliances also mean combining computer systems, as well as what Posada calls "the cultural campaign" to convince staff that they all work for one airline. Avianca's U.S. unit is in Chapter 11 and Summa is slashing fleet and staff to cut costs. Another tech conversion would trash its break-even goal for its second anniversary next May.

Two can play that game. The prime countries for SkyTeam are Argentina and Brazil, not necessarily Summa and Colombia, says Fred Reid, president and chief operating officer at Delta.

As useful as additional hubs might be for executives going to the region, experts don't expect the marketing deals to make a dent in the region's No. 1 airline, American, which flies out of Miami. Half of all passengers to and from Latin America fly on American Airlines. But, only half of all passengers need to go beyond Latin America's unofficial South Florida capital. 'American Airlines is likely to match every agreement formed by the Delta/Continental alliance. It will never eclipse American Airlines," says Bill Oliver, an airline consultant at Boyd Group.

Latin America does represent a growth market for the Delta and Continental once the global economy improves, says Robert Booth, president of Aviation Management. But the current alliance "is just so much smaller than American, which is so much larger," he says.

So what happens to the frequent flyer miles? Delta says that miles flown after the onset of the alliance will transfer to the ticket holder's carrier of choice. Miles saved before the alliance cannot be combined. Flights on partner airlines in the region also add frequent miles, but only if the booking airline has a deal with that specific regional carrier.

Don't expect any changes in ticket prices, either, says Booth. The airline industry is too weak and the yield in Latin America too low to undergo fare war now, he says.