U.S. regulator proposes letting Delta keep contested Tokyo airport slot
(Adds American Airlines comment, details, bylines)
By Jeffrey Dastin and Tim Ahmann
March 27 (Reuters) - A U.S. regulator tentatively said Friday that Delta Air Lines Inc can keep a slot at Tokyo's Haneda Airport if it flies there from Seattle daily, upsetting competitors that had asked for Delta's slot to grow their presence in Asia.
The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) said after months of proceedings that Delta's Seattle-Haneda route benefited the traveling public by providing one-stop service to Haneda from several western cities and by promoting a diversity of U.S. gateways.
A Japan-U.S. agreement limits U.S. carriers to four landing times at Haneda, currently allotted to Delta from Seattle and Los Angeles, United Continental Holdings Inc from San Francisco and Hawaiian Holdings Inc from Honolulu.
The decision marks a stumbling block to the Asia ambitions of American Airlines Group Inc. The world's largest airline has said it needs Haneda service to better compete with United and Delta and to offer more choices to travelers, as Haneda is closer to downtown Tokyo than Narita International Airport, where American, Delta and United all fly.
However, DOT chose Los Angeles-Haneda service by American as the tentative backup if Delta does not meet additional flying conditions. American and Hawaiian had charged Delta with limiting its winter Haneda service from Seattle to the minimum necessary before the slot reverted to DOT.
"The DOT has agreed with us in recognizing the importance of daily, year-round service in the U.S.-Haneda market," American Airlines spokesman Matt Miller said. "American stands ready to provide that service to customers through our Los Angeles hub."
DOT said that without a Department-granted waiver, Delta's failure to fly Seattle to and from Haneda every day in the future would constitute a violation subject to enforcement, and failure to fly those routes two out of any seven days would automatically rescind its authority and activate American's backup service.
Delta has committed to resuming daily service beginning on March 29, DOT said in its decision. "In addition, the record shows that Delta has taken steps to strengthen its commitment to Seattle by growing its Seattle hub."
Delta said in a statement it will operate daily flights between the airports year-round.
(Reporting by Jeffrey Dastin in New York and Timothy Ahmann in Washington; Editing by Sandra Maler and Lisa Shumaker)
