American, Hawaiian airlines lay out Haneda arguments

American Airlines and Hawaiian Airlines are making their cases to the US Department of Transportation (DOT) on why they should be awarded slots at Tokyo’s Haneda Airport currently held by Delta Air Lines for service from Seattle.

Meanwhile, the Atlanta-based Delta is laying out why it should retain the slots and is punching holes in American’s and Hawaiian’s cases. American wants the slots for flights from Los Angeles, which Delta and Hawaiian say would dump too much capacity on that market.

Hawaiian wants the slots for flights from Kona, a route American and Delta say serves Japanese citizens more than American citizens. And Delta wants to retain the slots, but Hawaiian and American say Delta is under-using a “scarce” aviation resource.

The three carriers are responding to DOT’s notice earlier this month that it would begin formally evaluating the route case.

(Madhu Unnikrishnan - ATWOnline News)