US-Japan agree to daytime slots at HND

this is good stuff for AA - another way to add to its growing Asia operation
 
It certainly puts Delta's Narita hub (and the huge investment in it) at a great financial disadvantage.  The high yield business travelers will flock to Haneda on the one Delta flight and the competing carriers, and losing those high yield customers from the Narita flights will put much pressure on the viability of the Narita hub.
 
No doubt they are kicking themselves for letting American get hold of that Seattle - Haneda slot.  It would have been worth it to them to fly that frequency empty everyday if they had to in order to keep control of the slot.
 
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jimntx said:
 
Ah,...I love it when you  "talk  that way to me"  Jim.
 
Thanx for that news clip.
 
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A very good read indeed.

DL really needs to stop taking positions where it becomes impossible to save face, particularly where the government is concerned. That can turn into years of indifference when it comes to route awards, etc.

It's a given that their words around this round of HND liberalization and the threats to close down NRT will be used against them when the next two HND slots go up for award.
 
Kev3188 said:
I hope you're wrong, but think you're right.
Maybe. My gut says DL and HA each get one of the next two slots, since arguably JL and NH are also gaining and AA & UA have their JV's while DL and HA don't.
 
The four existing flights will temporarily be allowed to use the new daytime frequencies thru the Winter 2016-17 season, but DOT is holding a route allocation case to determine which airlines get the daytime frequencies (plus the new fifth daytime frequency and the one new overnight frequency) on a permanent basis:
 
https://www.regulations.gov/contentStreamer?documentId=DOT-OST-2016-0048-0001&attachmentNumber=1&disposition=attachment&contentType=pdf
 
This provides AA, DL and UA an opportunity to argue that HA should not keep a daytime frequency for its Japanese beach tourist flight, but instead should keep its overnight flight.  
 
The below reference "..to significantly expand the number of U.S. cities that can support commercially viable Haneda service.." will IMO be an important factor in the final DOT decision. My bet is that submissions with JFK/LAX/SFO as the orign will have a lessor weight on an award decision than secondary cities - particularly those with no current Japan service, such as PHL and MIA. 
 
"Daytime access to Haneda has the potential to significantly expand the number of U.S. cities that can support commercially viable Haneda service, in contrast to what is economically viable with nighttime slots. Considering the substantially changed circumstances, the Department believes that the public interest warrants a completely fresh look at the U.S.-Haneda market to determinewhich allocations would best serve the public interest."