Answer of the Port of Seattle

DOT-OST-2010-0018

Page 3 of 7

I. The Traveling Public Will Substantially Benefit by Delta’s Seattle-Haneda 

Service.

Delta’s application makes the case for the award of a Haneda slot pair to provide 

a nonstop Seattle-Haneda service. Among the other facts relied upon by Delta to 

establish the merits of its application, Delta correctly indicated the following key points: 

• Seattle, with 114,000 annual Tokyo passengers, is the largest U.S.-Tokyo 

O&D market without service to Haneda. Exhibit DL-201.

• Seattle’s demographic and business metrics indicate the need for nonstop 

Haneda service and the inherent strength of Seattle’s community support 

for the new service. Exhibits DL-206, SEA-201-202.

• Other West Coast gateways, Los Angeles and San Francisco, each have 

one or more flights to Haneda but these services require circuitous 

routings compared to the more direct routings for those traveling from 

Seattle. In addition, other quadrants of the continental U.S. would enjoy 

more direct service connecting over Seattle than existing West Coast 

gateways, optimizing the convenience of Haneda’s close-in location. 

Exhibits DL-203 and 204, SEA-207.

• In addition to Delta’s own network of flights, its codeshare partner Alaska 

Airlines operates its extensive hub at Seattle, and will allow for the 

offering of one-stop connecting service from over 40 cities in the U.S. and 

Canada. Exhibits DL-401 through 404, SEA-208-209.

• An award to Delta will not only enhance West Coast inter-gateway 

competition but will ensure competitive balance between the two 

immunized Japan alliances (American/JAL and United/ANA) and Delta, 

that lacks a Japan air carrier partner. Exhibits DL-301, SEA-212.

II. Seattle and the Entire Pacific Northwest Region Will Support Delta’s New 

Service.

There is a well-documented and historic community of interest between Seattle 

and the Pacific Northwest region and Japan. Seattle has developed into a major terminus 

for those traveling between the United States and Japan. Two-way trade between the 

State of Washington and Japan surpassed $24 billion in 2011. Recently, when overall 
Answer of the Port of Seattle

DOT-OST-2010-0018

Page 4 of 7

economic activity declined or was flat, Washington state-of-origin exports have 

consistently grown: 2009-2010 up 10.08%, 2010-2011 up 5.43%; and most recently for 

the five months ending May 2012, exports were up an impressive 50.54%. Exports 

account for 20% of Seattle’s “GDP” and 4% of all U.S. exports originate in Seattle’s

Metropolitan Statistical Area. Exhibit DL-206. According to the study by Washington 

Council on International Trade and the Trade Development Alliance of Greater Seattle, 

close to 40% of jobs in Washington State are tied to international trade. Washington’s

export per capita is more than twice that of the U.S. average state. Exhibit SEA-201. 

The State of Washington is home to many international firms with substantial 

interests in Japan, including Boeing, Microsoft, Starbucks, Bill and Melinda Gates

Foundation, Costco and the U.S. headquarters for major Japanese companies such as 

Nintendo and Toray Composites, and various aerospace suppliers. Exhibit SEA-202. 

Many corporate expressions of endorsement being filed in the Docket compliment the 

comments of Washington State Governor, Christine Gregoire, and the entire Washington 

Congressional Delegation supporting the public interest merits of the Delta request to 

operate the Seattle-Haneda route. Exhibit SEA-213.

Seattle’s total airport passenger growth has been stronger than that of any other 

major West Coast airport in recent years, and Seattle has gained more long-haul 

international services to Asia and Europe than its peers in the past five years. Total onboard passengers to/from Asia grew almost 50% from 2006 to 2011. Exhibits SEA-203-

205. Seattle has supported nonstop Seattle-Tokyo service for almost 50 years and 

generates strong traffic that easily supports 16 nonstop inter-continental long-haul 



Docket DOT-OST-2010-0018

Port of Seattle Exhibits - September 2012

Seattle-Tacoma International Airport 
Index of Exhibits 

Exhibit SEA-201 – Seattle and Washington State’s Economy

Exhibit SEA-202 – International Companies in Washington State

Exhibit SEA-203 – West Coast Passenger Traffic Comparison 

Exhibit SEA-204 – Seattle’s International Service Growth 

Exhibit SEA-205 – Seattle-Asia On-board Passenger Growth

Exhibit SEA-206 – Seattle’s Nonstop Intercontinental Services 

Exhibit SEA-207 – Seattle: the Closest West Coast Gateway to Asia

Exhibit SEA-208 – Seattle Passengers by Carrier 

Exhibit SEA-209 – Connecting Services on Delta and Alaska Airlines

Exhibit SEA-210 – Seattle: No. 1 On-Time Airport 

Exhibit SEA-211 – FlightStats 2011 Airport Performance Summary 

Exhibit SEA-212 – West Coast Alliance Comparison

Exhibit SEA-213 – Letter of Support from Washington State 

 Governor Christine Gregoire

Docket DOT-OST-2010-0018

Exhibit Index
Docket DOT-OST-2010-0018

Exhibit SEA-201

Seattle and Washington State’s Economy 

• 2011 State Population: 6,830,038

• 2011 State GDP (US$ millions): $385,083

• The Seattle metro area is the fourth largest export market in the nation. 

• Washington State is the fifth largest exporter among US states, with per 

capita exports more than double the national average.

Source: US Dept. of Commerce; US Census Bureau
Docket DOT-OST-2010-0018

Exhibit SEA-202

Seattle and Washington State’s Economy 

International Companies 

in Washington State
West Coast Passenger Traffic Comparison 

Seattle’s growth is strongest from CY2000.

Sources: ACI-NA and Airport Data

North American 

Ranking Airport

2011 

Passengers 

Change from 

CY 2000

3 Los Angeles 61,862,052 -6.9%

7 San Francisco 40,810,141 -0.6%

16 Seattle 32,467,007 +14.3%

32 Portland 13,675,924 0.0%

Seattle has grown most among the major West Coast airports 

since CY2000.

Docket DOT-OST-2010-0018

Exhibit SEA-203
Seattle’s International Service Growth 

Seattle added more flights than other gateways 

on the West Coast in the past five years

Weekly Asia/Europe Flights

Intercontinental 

Gateway

Summer 

2007

Summer 

2012

Change 

2007-2011

% Change 

2007-2012

Los Angeles 333 360 +27 +8.1%

San Francisco 222 244 +22 +9.9%

Vancouver 183 169 -21 -7.7%

Seattle 73 110 +29 +50.7%

Includes Asia and Europe; does not include Australia, New Zealand, or Oceania.

Source: OAG, Summer 2007 and June 2012

Docket DOT-OST-2010-0018

Exhibit SEA-204

Asia and Europe Frequencies for West Coast Gateways
Annual Scheduled Service Passengers by Carrier

Seattle - Asia Onboard Passengers

Nearly 50% increase from 2006 to 2011

Source: Port of Seattle data and USDOT Database T100, not including Newark and Houston through-passengers on BR and CI

170,491 185,390 196,505 183,623

306,867 365,987

155,407 156,628 142,574 127,925

138,455

127,940

81,761 81,895 90,562 101,928

110,161

126,287

83,443 93,140 103,236 102,052

128,994

141,040

78,725 102,783 119,616 121,523 

133,690 

124,966 

69,078 

71,013 64,517 

26,890 

46,615 

64,668 

67,680 

0

100,000

200,000

300,000

400,000

500,000

600,000

700,000

800,000

900,000

1,000,000

1,100,000

2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011

DL UA KE OZ BR CI HU

638,905 690,849

739,103

684,047

882,835

948,136

Docket DOT-OST-2010-0018

Exhibit SEA-205
Amsterdam

Paris

Tokyo

Seattle

Seattle’s Nonstop Intercontinental Services 

Frankfurt

Beijing

Reykjavik

Delta Air Lines international service

International service on other carrier

Seasonal international service

Osaka

Seoul

Taipei

London

Dubai

Docket DOT-OST-2010-0018

Exhibit SEA-206
Source: Great Circle Mapper, OAG Schedules+

Seattle: the Closest West Coast Gateway to Asia

Docket DOT-OST-2010-0018

Exhibit SEA-207

Elapsed trip time to/from Haneda:

Westbound Eastbound

Seattle: 10:30 9:00

San Francisco: 11:00 9:35

Los Angeles: 11:50 10:25
Delta 11.6%

Alaska & 

Horizon 

Airlines

49.9%

Other SkyTeam 0.8%

United (incl. CO) 11.2%

US Airways 3.0%

Other Star Alliance 2.3%

Southwest 9.8% American 4.2%

Other oneworld 0.6%

Other 6.6%

Seattle Passengers By Carrier 

Seattle is Alaska Airlines’ Hub

Source: Port of Seattle, as reported by airlines.

49.9% Alaska Air Group

16.5% Star Alliance

12.4% SkyTeam

9.8% Southwest

 4.8% oneworld 

Docket DOT-OST-2010-0018

Exhibit SEA-208

32,823,220 Total in CY 2011
Seattle’s Connecting Services on Delta and Alaska

Does not include service to Hawaii

Source: OAG Schedules Database, August 2012

Docket DOT-OST-2010-0018

Exhibit SEA-209
Seattle: No. 1 On-Time Airport

Flightstats On-time 

Performance Service Awards

The FlightStats On-time Performance 

Service (OPS) Awards recognize 

airlines and airports around the world 

that deliver the highest percentage of 

flights to their arrival gates within 15 

minutes of the scheduled arrival time.

To determine the finalists and winners, 

FlightStats examines flight status and 

arrival data aggregated from global 

sources including civil aviation 

authorities, airlines, airports, and major 

airline reservation systems.

FlightStats is pleased to be able to 

recognize operational excellence on the 

part of airlines and airports around the 

globe and help call attention to those 

airlines and airports that stand above 

the rest. The company has been 

tracking air travel on-time performance 

since 2004.

http://opsawards.flightstats.com/index.html

Docket DOT-OST-2010-0018

Exhibit SEA-210
FlightStats 2011 Airport Performance Summary

International Major Category 

Rank Code City sample_size on time on time % 

1 SEA Seattle, WA, US 152,553 130,738 86.28% 

2 VIE Vienna, AT 103,024 85,700 84.02% 

3 DTW Detroit, MI, US 223,254 178,707 81.64% 

4 YVR Vancouver, BC, CA 105,359 85,370 81.54% 

5 AMS Amsterdam, NL 158,867 128,221 81.29% 

6 BRU Brussels, BE 88,516 71,090 81.23% 

7 DUS Dusseldorf, DE 82,277 65,926 81.03% 

8 CLT Charlotte, NC, US 256,687 201,841 80.20% 

9 ATL Atlanta, GA, US 459,805 360,339 79.64% 

10 MCO Orlando, FL, US 145,616 114,768 79.55% 

11 IAH Houston, TX, US 264,975 208,128 79.50% 

12 SYD Sydney, AU 115,538 89,738 79.40% 

13 IAD Washington, DC, US 146,172 112,125 78.50% 

14 MUC Munich, DE 170,920 131,567 77.81% 

15 MEL Melbourne, AU 97,019 72,953 76.90% 

16 SFO San Francisco, CA, US 188,690 141,329 76.07% 

17 BCN Barcelona, SP, ES 119,518 90,179 75.88% 

18 ZRH Zurich, CH 90,622 68,113 75.83% 

19 LHR London, EN, GB 210,341 158,393 75.81% 

20 FRA Frankfurt, DE 196,559 147,371 75.67% 

21 DEL Delhi, IN 90,941 68,089 75.60% 

22 LAX Los Angels, CA, US 279,806 208,850 75.39% 

23 YUL Montreal, QC, CA 96,684 71,085 74.94% 

24 FLL Fort Lauderdale, FL, US 102,468 76,085 74.93% 

25 BOS Boston, MA, US 179,964 129,752 74.75% 

Source: FlightStats - http://opsawards.flightstats.com/index.html

Docket DOT-OST-2010-0018

Exhibit SEA-211
West Coast Alliance Comparison

West Coast Airports – Weekly Pacific Frequencies

Summer 2012

Pacific 

Gateway SkyTeam Star oneworld Other Total

Los Angeles 45 58 42 56 201

San 

Francisco 14 77 21 26 138

Vancouver 12 42 21 32 107

Seattle 26 14 0 19 59

Total 97 191 84 133

Includes Asia; does not include Australia, New Zealand, or Oceania.

Source: OAG, June 2012

Docket DOT-OST-2010-0018

Exhibit SEA-212