Order 2014-4-6

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY

WASHINGTON, D.C. 

Issued by the Department of Transportation

on the 4th day of April, 2014

 

 Served: April 4, 2014

FINAL ORDER

SUMMARY

By this Order, we make final our tentative findings and conclusions set forth in Order 

2014-2-23, and allocate one U.S.-Haneda slot pair to United Airlines, Inc. (United) for daily 

scheduled combination services between San Francisco, California, and Tokyo’s Haneda 

Airport.

BACKGROUND

Under the Memorandum of Understanding between the United States and Japan, signed on 

October 25, 2010, four daily slot pairs are available to carriers from each country to provide 

scheduled combination services between the United States and Tokyo’s Haneda Airport.1

 As a 

result of two prior proceedings, by Orders 2010-7-2 and 2013-2-4, we allocated the four slot 

pairs as follows: 1) one slot pair to Hawaiian Airlines, Inc. (Hawaiian) for Honolulu-Haneda 

service; 2) two slot pairs to Delta Air Lines, Inc. (Delta), one for Los Angeles-Haneda and one 

for Seattle-Haneda services; and 3) one slot pair to American Airlines, Inc. (American) for New 

York (JFK)-Haneda service.

On October 23, 2013, American advised the Department that it would discontinue its New York 

(JFK)-Haneda service on December 1, 2013, and that American was returning to the Department 

 1 The scheduled operations are subject to the following conditions: 1) U.S. operations at Haneda are permitted 

between 2200 and 0700 hours local time; 2) departures from Haneda to a point in the 48 contiguous U.S. states are 

not permitted prior to midnight; and 3) extra sections are not permitted.

Applications of

HAWAIIAN AIRLINES, INC.

UNITED AIRLINES, INC.

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

Services Allocation Proceeding

 Docket DOT-OST-2010-0018
2

the slot pair allocated to it by Order 2010-7-2, effective December 2, 2013. United and 

Hawaiian each filed an application for the available slot pair. In light of the competing 

applications of Hawaiian and United, by Order 2013-11-9, issued November 14, 2013, the 

Department instituted this proceeding to allocate the one available slot pair. 

Applications, answers, and replies were filed by Hawaiian and United for the slot pair under 

consideration.2 Hawaiian proposes daily service from Kona beginning on or about April 1, 

2014, using A-330 aircraft. United proposes daily service from San Francisco beginning within 

180 days of the beginning of the 2014 IATA Summer season using B-777 aircraft, and later 

using B-787 aircraft as they are added to United’s fleet. In addition, the United Master 

Executive Council of the Air Line Pilots Association and the San Francisco International Airport 

filed in support of United’s proposal.3

TENTATIVE DECISION

After examining the complete record of applications and responsive pleadings, by 

Order 2014-2-23, issued February 28, 2014, we tentatively decided to allocate the one available 

slot pair to United for daily scheduled combination services between San Francisco and Tokyo’s 

Haneda Airport. We allowed 10 calendar days for the filing of objections to our tentative 

decision and seven calendar days for answers to objections.

PLEADINGS FOLLOWING THE TENTATIVE DECISION

On March 10, 2014, Hawaiian filed an objection to the Department’s tentative decision, and 

United filed comments supporting the tentative decision. No replies were filed to the March 10, 

pleadings of Hawaiian or United.

United requests that the Department issue an order confirming the tentative decision, enabling 

United to begin making the necessary arrangements well in advance of its start-up date.

Hawaiian urges the Department to reverse its tentative decision and award the slot pair to 

Hawaiian for its proposed Kona-Haneda service. Hawaiian specifically objects to the 

Department’s conclusion that the tentative selection of United would best benefit the U.S. 

traveling public. Hawaiian argues that by focusing on the origin of United’s traffic, the 

Department has “moved the goal posts,” because the Order instituting this proceeding stated the 

Department’s principal objective would be to maximize public benefits, without reference to the 

origin of the traffic to be served.4

 Hawaiian asserts that because the bulk of its Kona passengers 

would originate in Japan, its proposed service would result in more traffic stimulation and more 

economic growth than would United’s San Francisco service.

Hawaiian further asserts that the Department should, in its final order, affirm the public interest 

benefits of foreign-originating traffic and the tourism it facilitates. Hawaiian argues that U.S.-

 2 Hawaiian also filed a surreply and motion for leave to file, which the Department granted. 3 Delta also filed a petition for reconsideration and additional pleadings supporting the position set forth in its 

petition. See Order 2014-1-3 regarding resolution of the issues raised by Delta. 4 Hawaiian Objection, at 1-2.
3

originating passengers spend dollars overseas, while foreign-originating passengers spend dollars

in the United States, thereby increasing U.S. exports. 

DECISION

We have decided to make final our tentative decision to allocate the one available slot pair to 

United for daily scheduled combination services between San Francisco and Tokyo’s Haneda 

Airport.

Our tentative decision, contrary to Hawaiian’s assertion, focused on much more than the origin 

of United’s traffic. We highlighted that the Department has historically given considerable 

weight to new entrant applicants in carrier selection proceedings, and that introducing United as 

a new entrant at Haneda would make the best use of the one available slot pair.5

 We also 

tentatively found that selection of United’s San Francisco-Haneda proposal would provide intragateway competition at San Francisco by introducing the first U.S. carrier-operated service in the 

Haneda market, while enhancing inter-gateway competition in the West Coast-Tokyo market by 

giving consumers an additional choice for connecting service to Haneda over United’s wellestablished San Francisco hub. We tentatively found that the benefits to the traveling public of 

United’s proposal outweigh the potential benefits associated with Hawaiian’s proposal. 

We have considered Hawaiian’s various objections to our tentative decision, as well as the merits 

of its Kona proposal, and do not find that a different outcome is warranted. Hawaiian argues that 

its proposed Kona-Haneda service would generate greater economic benefits than would 

additional Tokyo service from San Francisco. Notwithstanding the positive attributes of new 

Kona-Haneda service, we find that those factors are outweighed by the aggregate of benefits to 

be derived from United’s San Francisco-Haneda proposal. We acknowledge that Hawaiian’s 

proposal would likely prove beneficial to the local and State economies; however, on balance,

we find that the competitive benefits of new United service to Haneda from its San Francisco 

hub would make better use of the one available slot pair, and is likely to attract the diverse mix 

of business and leisure traffic, originating in the U.S. and in Japan, that will benefit from access 

to Tokyo’s downtown Haneda airport.

Having carefully considered the record in this proceeding, we have decided to make final our 

tentative selection of United for daily combination services between San Francisco and Tokyo’s 

Haneda Airport.

TERMS, CONDITIONS, AND LIMITATIONS

We have decided to impose a start-up condition for this award. We finalize our tentative 

decision to require United to institute its proposed services within 180 days of March 30, 2014, 

the date on which the IATA 2014 summer traffic season begins, consistent with United’s 

proposed start-up date. 

 5 Hawaiian serves Haneda from Honolulu.
4

In addition, we finalize our decision to impose a 90-day dormancy condition on the slot pair 

allocated in this proceeding; if the slot pair is not utilized for a period of 90 days (once 

inaugurated), it will be deemed dormant and revert to the Department.

ACCORDINGLY,

1. We make final our tentative findings, conclusions, and decision set forth in Order 

2014-2-23;

2. We allocate United Airlines, Inc. one slot pair for its proposed San Francisco-Haneda service;

3. The slot pair allocation will remain in effect indefinitely, provided that the holder continues to 

hold the necessary underlying authority to serve the markets authorized; and provided further 

that the slot pair will become dormant and will revert automatically to the Department if it is not 

used for a period of 90 days (once inaugurated); 

4. To the extent not granted, we deny the remaining applications and requests in this proceeding;

5. We will not entertain petitions for reconsideration of this order; and 

6. We will serve this order on the parties to the captioned docket of the order, the Japanese

Ambassador to the United States in Washington, DC, the Federal Aviation Administration, and 

the U.S. Department of State (Office of Aviation Negotiations).

By:

Susan L. Kurland

Assistant Secretary for Aviation

and International Affairs

(SEAL)

An electronic version of this document is available on the World Wide Web at:

http://www.regulations.gov