The Department of Transportation (DOT) denied Delta Air Lines motion to confer the flexibleness to make use of as much as two of their currently allocated slots between the USA and Tokyo Haneda International Airport (HND) from any US gateway of the airline’s selecting.
Motion denied
On Friday, the DOT denied Delta Air Line’s motion to confer all US-Haneada slot holders the flexibleness to make use of as much as two of their currently allocated US-Haneda slot pairs to serve Haneda from any US gateway of their selecting.
The DOT said that allowing carriers to pick at their discretion different US gateways to serve Haneda would
Photo: Vincenzo Pace | Easy Flying.
The 2010 US-Japan Memorandum of Understanding currently provides 17 daytime slot pairs and one nighttime morning slot pair for US airlines flying to Tokyo Haneda. American Airlines has two slots operating from Los Angeles (LAX) and one from Dallas Fort Price (DFW); Delta Air Lines has seven slots operated from Los Angeles, Minneapolis/St. Paul (MSP), Seattle (SEA), Detroit (DTW), Atlanta (ATL), Portland (PDX), and Honolulu (HNL); Hawaiian has three slots from Honolulu; and United Airlines has five slots operated from San Francisco (SFO), Newark (EWR), Chicago O’Hare (ORD), Washington Dulles (IAD), and Los Angeles. These slots were allocated in 2019, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.
What’s the context behind this?
In May 2023, Delta Air Lines requested the DOT to confer all slot holders between the USA and Tokyo Haneda (that’s, American Airlines, Delta, Hawaiian Airlines, and United Airlines) flexibility to make use of as much as two slots from the gateway of their selecting as a part of a three-year pilot program.
Photo: Vincenzo Pace | Easy Flying.
In keeping with Delta, granting this measure would have delivered advantages equivalent to the flexibility to reply more nimbly to evolving passenger demand trends, intensify competition amongst US-Haneda competitors, and create consumer advantages. The airline argued that the US-Tokyo demand has not recovered from the COVID-19 pandemic crisis. In keeping with Delta, passenger volumes for the US-Tokyo marketplace for the last twelve months ending March 2023 were lower than half what they were in 2019 – just 49% (while other long-haul international markets had a median recovery of 72% in that very same period).
Other airlines were quick to react to Delta’s request. American Airlines and Hawaiian Airlines each filed a solution in support of Delta’s motion. Nevertheless, United Airlines said it could not be in the general public interest for Delta to receive waivers for its Haneda slots.
United said that Delta shouldn’t be all for employing all of the slots that were received to fly to Haneda. Particularly, Delta shouldn’t be flying to Haneda from Portland and Honolulu, making the most of a waiver period introduced as a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic.
However the waiver period is ready to finish shortly, and Delta seems in no particular rush to make the routes from Portland and Honolulu viable. As a substitute, the airline is offering exorbitant prices for round-trips between Portland and Tokyo Haneda (United showed Delta’s lowest fare to be $10,667 round-trip for Portland-Tokyo).
United said in its objection.
Easy Flying reached Delta Air Lines for comment on the DOT’s denial. The airline was not immediately available for comment.
What do you consider the DOT’s decision? Do you’re thinking that it was the proper call to disclaim Delta –and American and Hawaiian– slot flexibility within the services between US and Tokyo Haneda? Tell us within the comments below.