BEFORE THE 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

WASHINGTON, D.C. 

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

Services Allocation Proceeding 

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Docket DOT-OST-2010-0018 

APPLICATION AND SUPPLEMENT TO 

PETITION OF DELTA AIR LINES, INC.

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 – Regulatory and International 

Affairs & Associate General Counsel 

Christopher Walker 

Regional Director – Regulatory and International 

Affairs 

DELTA AIR LINES, INC. 

1212 New York Avenue, N.W. 

Washington, D.C. 20005 

(202) 842-4184 

sascha.vanderbellen@delta.com 

chris.walker@delta.com 

November 26, 2013
 

BEFORE THE 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

WASHINGTON, D.C. 

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

Services Allocation Proceeding 

) 

) 

) 

) 

) 

) 

) 

Docket DOT-OST-2010-0018 

APPLICATION AND SUPPLEMENT TO 

PETITION OF DELTA AIR LINES, INC.

 

 In Delta’s Petition for Reconsideration of Order 2013-11-9, Delta requested that the 

Department expand the scope of this proceeding to consider the issue of gateway flexibility. 

In the event that Delta’s Petition is granted, Delta hereby applies for an amendment to the 

terms and conditions of its previously-allocated Haneda slots to allow them to be used at 

any U.S. gateway. Delta further proposes that the Department allow the same gateway 

flexibility for all U.S. carriers holding Haneda slots. The U.S.-Japan aviation marketplace is 

rapidly evolving, and carriers must have flexibility to respond to changes in the marketplace 

as they occur, without the delay of successive route case proceedings. 

The Department does not impose route limitations on U.S. carriers’ use of airport 

slots in any other open skies market. In the large and important U.S.-Brazil market, 

Department precedent supports eliminating city-pair restrictions on limited entry frequencies 

previously allocated by route cases. See, Order 2004-6-25. The challenges associated 

with implementing U.S.-Haneda service under the current operating rules at Haneda, 

combined with the evolving marketplace dynamics, make gateway flexibility especially 

important here. Delta believes that all U.S. carriers should be free to use their allocated 
Delta Application/Supplement 

Page 2 

slots to respond to market demands, thereby maximizing customer and public interest 

benefits. 

Hawaiian was the only carrier to object to Delta’s Petition. Delta supplements its 

Petition with the following response to Hawaiian’s Answer, and respectfully asks the 

Department to grant gateway flexibility to all U.S. carrier Haneda slot holders in the course 

of this proceeding: 

1. Contrary to Hawaiian’s assertions, Delta does not propose to “change radically” the 

Department’s consideration of route case awards, or require that future awards be made 

“without reference to the gateway or route proposal.” (HA ans. at 1). Rather, Delta 

proposes that the Department apply exactly the same procedures and precedent which it 

has used in administering U.S.-Brazil awards for more than a decade. By Order 2004-

6-25, the Department found that it was in the public interest to eliminate city-pair 

restrictions from all prior route case awards and to allow carriers commercial discretion 

in the use of their frequencies. In the 12 years since that Order was issued, the 

Department has conducted multiple carrier selection cases to allocate new or unused 

U.S.-Brazil frequencies. In each case, the carriers’ gateway and route proposals have 

figured prominently in DOT’s decision, notwithstanding the Department’s decision to 

remove gateway limitations from all prior awards. See, e.g. Orders 2013-6-16; 2009-3-

14; 2005-2-10. The Department’s decision to eliminate gateway restrictions from all 

prior Brazil awards has not impacted DOT’s ability to conduct appropriate and effective 

route case proceedings when new or returned frequencies become available, and the 

Department will be able to do the same at Haneda. 

2. Japanese carriers maintain large hubs at Haneda, and there are no restrictions on 

Japanese carriers’ ability to change the U.S. gateways from which they offer Haneda 

service. In the interest of fairness it is important that U.S. network carriers serving Japan 
Delta Application/Supplement 

Page 3 

have commercial flexibility to make the most effective use of their Haneda slots based 

on current market conditions.1

 

3. Hawaiian’s call for tight regulation of Haneda slots and applying route case constraints in 

perpetuity to limit competition among U.S. carriers is inconsistent with open skies and 

the Department’s procompetitive aviation policies. While comparative route case 

proceedings may make sense in determining initial allocations of slots and new authority 

(as in Brazil), U.S.-Haneda carriers should be free to adapt their services to market 

demands over time, thereby promoting maximum service and competitive benefits. 

4. The Department is free to make changes to the terms and conditions of previously 

issued Haneda slots. Hawaiian concedes as much, but urges that the Department “do 

so in a separate proceeding.” (HA at p.3). The Administrative Procedure Act requires 

only that the Department provide appropriate notice of the issues to be considered in this 

case. There is no APA requirement that the Department establish a separate docket. 

The issues raised by Delta’s Petition are simple and straight-forward, as evidenced by 

the pleadings submitted thus far. Hawaiian has been on notice of the proposal since 

November 19, and the Department has extended the procedural schedule by an 

additional week, now running through December 16. Since the Department will be 

conducting a thorough review of the public interest issues associated with U.S.-Haneda 

service, it will promote sound decision making and administrative efficiency to consider 

all of the relevant Haneda issues here, including Delta’s Petition. 

 

 

1

 As the only U.S. network carrier without a Japanese partner at Haneda, the lack of flexibility in 

managing Haneda slots to improve its overall network service offering is particularly harmful to Delta. 
Delta Application/Supplement 

Page 4 

Respectfully submitted,

_________________________________ 

Alexander Van der Bellen 

Managing Director, Regulatory and 

International Affairs 

 & Associate General Counsel 

DELTA AIR LINES, INC. 
CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE 

A copy of the foregoing Reply has been served this 26th day of November, 2013, upon 

the following persons via email: 

dan.weiss@united.com 

thomas.bolling@united.com 

lhalloway@crowell.com 

gmurphy@crowell.com 

jhill@dowlohnes.com 

Francis.Heil@aa.com 

Robert.Wirick@aa.com 

howard.kass@usairways.com 

benjamin.slocum@usairways.com 

paul.gretch@dot.gov 

brian.hedberg@dot.gov 

esta.rosenberg@dot.gov 

brett.kruger@dot.gov 

todd.homan@dot.gov 

urskr@state.gov 

CristinaSA@state.gov 

eugene_alford@ita.doc.gov 

info@airlineinfo.com