BEFORE THE

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

WASHINGTON, D.C.

Motion of 

DELTA AIR LINES, INC. 

In the matter of 2010 U.S.-Haneda Combination 

Services Allocation Proceeding

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Docket DOT-OST-2010-0018 

ANSWER OF DELTA AIR LINES, INC. TO

OBJECTIONS TO SHOW CAUSE ORDER 2012-11-12

Communications with respect to this document should be addressed to:

Glen Hauenstein

Executive Vice President – Network Planning

 & Revenue Management

Robert J. Cortelyou

Senior Vice President – Network Planning

Andreas Renner

Director – International Network Planning

DELTA AIR LINES, INC.

1030 Delta Boulevard

Atlanta, Georgia 30320

Andrea Fischer Newman

Senior Vice President – Government Affairs

DELTA AIR LINES, INC. 

1212 New York Avenue, N.W. 

Washington, D.C. 20005

Alexander Van der Bellen

Managing Director – Government Affairs

 & Associate General Counsel

DELTA AIR LINES, INC. 

1212 New York Avenue, N.W. 

Washington, D.C. 20005

(202) 842-4184

sascha.vanderbellen@delta.com

December 3, 2012
BEFORE THE

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

WASHINGTON, D.C.

Motion of 

DELTA AIR LINES, INC. 

In the matter of 2010 U.S.-Haneda Combination 

Services Allocation Proceeding

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Docket DOT-OST-2010-0018 

ANSWER OF DELTA AIR LINES, INC. TO

OBJECTIONS TO SHOW CAUSE ORDER 2012-11-12

Delta is very pleased the Department has tentatively decided to grant Delta’s motion 

to operate Haneda service from the Seattle gateway. Seattle is the largest U.S.-Tokyo O&D 

market that currently lacks Haneda service. Opening Seattle for nonstop service to Haneda

will create an important new hub gateway for the entire Pacific Northwest region. Delta’s 

Haneda service will provide a beneficial alternative to the other west coast gateways. The 

Show Cause Order found that:

• “Delta’s proposal would best serve the public interest by providing the first nonstop 

Haneda service on a significant mainland U.S.-Tokyo route that currently lacks any 

such service.”

• “Delta’s proposed service would further serve the public interest by providing a 

number of western cities with a first one-stop connecting opportunity to Haneda.”

• “cities that now enjoy one-stop connections over more southerly gateways would 

gain the option of service over a less circuitous northwest gateway.”

• “Allowing Delta to move from Detroit to Seattle would . . . address a diversity of 

public interest goals.”

Order 2012-11-12 at 5-6. 

Delta fully agrees with the Department’s tentative findings, all of which are well 

supported in the record. American filed comments urging that all carriers be allowed 

gateway flexibility, but did not object to the tentative award for Delta. Hawaiian filed neither 
Delta Answer

Page 2

comments nor objections. Only United and its allies, the United/Continental Pilots MEC and

the San Francisco Airport, have challenged the Department’s Show Cause Order. There is 

no merit to these objections, and the Department’s well-reasoned tentative decision should 

be made final. 

United claims the Department erred in selecting Delta’s proposal because San 

Francisco is larger than Seattle and is “the biggest West Coast-Tokyo market without U.S. 

flag-operated nonstop service.” Contrary to United’s objections, the Department correctly 

found in the Show Cause Order that “[w]hile San Francisco may not have service to Haneda 

from a U.S. carrier operating it own aircraft, American offers daily nonstop San FranciscoHaneda service through its code share with JAL.” (Show Cause Order at page 6). 

Furthermore, Delta would add that under a metal-neutral joint venture, the services of U.S. 

carrier and its immunized alliance partner must be considered equivalent. As correctly 

stated by the Department when it approved the United/ANA immunized alliance: "The 

intended commercial effects of the ATI Applicants’ respective joint business agreements are 

similar to those resulting from a merger." Japan ATI Order 2010-10-4 at 5. There is no 

denying the fact that San Francisco has nonstop Haneda service and that American 

participates on the route through its joint venture. 

In contrast, Seattle has no nonstop Haneda service by any U.S. or Japanese carrier. 

In carrier selection cases, the Department has long emphasized the importance of 

“provid[ing] consumers with the special convenience of nonstop service in a market that 

does not receive it.” Order 98-12-33 at 7. Delta’s Seattle-Haneda proposal will create this 

important new convenience, while United’s proposal merely duplicates existing nonstop 

service on the San Francisco-Haneda route. It should be noted that United and ANA have 

flexibility within their alliance to offer San Francisco-Haneda service at their discretion, but 

Seattle will only receive Haneda service if the DOT approves Delta’s request. DL-A-202, 

203. This is an important point because if the Department does not advance the interests of 
Delta Answer

Page 3

unaligned carriers and their unaligned hub cities, only Star and oneworld gateways will have 

Haneda access. ANA chose to serve Haneda from Los Angeles (a United hub), and United 

here proposes a second service from its hub at San Francisco. The Department acted fairly 

and correctly in providing geographic diversity for Haneda service from Delta’s Seattle hub. 

United makes the argument that an award to United would promote competitive 

balance among U.S. carriers serving Japan. However, as previously explained by Delta, an 

award to United would have the opposite effect. Delta, the only non-aligned carrier serving 

Japan, would possess a single pair of Haneda slots while oneworld and Star would each 

have three Haneda slot pairs. Delta Exhibit-R-208. United also argues that DOT failed to 

consider intergateway competition in making its award to Delta. This is a strange argument, 

since doubling up oneworld and Star alliance service at San Francisco is the antithesis of 

encouraging intergateway competition.

Finally, United’s request for back-up authority should be rejected. United’s request is 

inconsistent with the DOT’s processing of Haneda slot applications to date. In Order 2010-

7-2, when the initial Haneda awards were made, DOT stated that if any applicant did not 

provide the service proposed that the Department would want to reconsider the matter “on 

the basis of a fresh record”.1

 Order 2010-7-2, page 8. Likewise, in the current Show Cause 

Order, the Department stated that should Delta or any other carrier currently serving 

Haneda wish to change its gateway, the carrier should expect to compete for the allocation

in another comparative selection proceeding. In other words, the DOT has consistently 

determined that back-up awards are not appropriate for Haneda slots and that the 

Department wishes to consider the merits of alternative slot uses based on current facts and 

circumstances. 

 1 The DOT specifically addressed this point in its Final 2010 Haneda Order because 

Continental and Continental Micronesia specifically objected to the Show Cause Order to 

the extent the DOT decided not to award back-up authority.
Delta Answer

Page 4

In conclusion, United’s objections provide no basis to disturb the Department’s 

tentative findings. The Show Cause Order should be made final granting the motion of 

Delta to move one slot pair from Detroit to Seattle.

Respectfully submitted,

_________________________________

Alexander Van der Bellen

Managing Director, Government Affairs

 & Associate General Counsel

DELTA AIR LINES, INC.
CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE

A copy of the foregoing Answer to the Objections to Show Cause Order 2012-11-12 has 

been served this 3rd day of December, 2012, upon the following persons via email:

Francis.Heil@aa.com

Robert.Wirick@aa.com

dan.weiss@united.com

thomas.bolling@united.com

lhalloway@crowell.com

gmurphy@crowell.com

howard.kass@usairways.com

benjamin.slocum@usairways.com

jhill@dowlohnes.com

paul.gretch@dot.gov

keith.glatz@dot.gov

esta.rosenberg@dot.gov

brett.kruger@dot.gov

todd.homan@dot.gov

urskr@state.gov

eugene_alford@ita.doc.gov

info@airlineinfo.com

Tim.OMalley@alpa.org

Ishiwata.K@portseattle.org

Safora.I@portseattle.org

Kyle.Levine@alaskaair.com

Megan.Lawrence@alaskaair.com