BEFORE THE

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

WASHINGTON, D.C.

__________________________________________

)

Motions and Application of )

 ) 

AMERICAN AIRLINES, INC. )

HAWAIIAN AIRLINES, INC. ) Docket DOT-OST-2010-0018

 )

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

Combination Services Allocation Proceeding )

__________________________________________)

CONSOLIDATED ANSWER OF 

THE DELTA MASTER EXECUTIVE COUNCIL OF THE

AIR LINE PILOTS ASSOCIATION, INTERNATIONAL

Communications with respect to this document should be addressed to:

Michael G. Donatelli

Chairman

Delta Master Executive Council

Air Line Pilots Association, International

100 Hartsfield Centre Parkway, Suite 800

Atlanta, Georgia 30354 

Mike.Donatelli@alpa.org

October 17, 2014
BEFORE THE

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

WASHINGTON, D.C.

__________________________________________

)

Motions and Application of )

 ) 

AMERICAN AIRLINES, INC. )

HAWAIIAN AIRLINES, INC. ) Docket DOT-OST-2010-0018

 )

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

Combination Services Allocation Proceeding )

__________________________________________)

CONSOLIDATED ANSWER OF 

THE DELTA MASTER EXECUTIVE COUNCIL OF THE

AIR LINE PILOTS ASSOCIATION, INTERNATIONAL

The Delta Master Executive Council, the Delta chapter of the Air Line Pilots Association, 

International (the “Delta MEC”) hereby answers in opposition to the Motion and Application of 

American Airlines, Inc. (“Motion”) asking the DOT to strip from Delta two slots used for 

Seattle-Haneda service even though Delta has been and will continue to provide service on the

route in full compliance with the DOT’s explicit dormancy conditions. The Delta MEC urges 

that American’s Motion be rejected and its application be dismissed. 

We note that Hawaiian Airlines filed an Answer supporting American’s Motion, but 

opposing American’s Application. Obviously Hawaiian is hoping to poach the slots from Seattle 

to add yet more service at Hawaii, which already enjoys three Haneda flights. Hawaiian’s

Answer is equally without merit and adds nothing of significance to American’s brazen and 

improper attempt to deprive Seattle and the Pacific Northwest of their only nonstop Haneda 

service. 

The Delta MEC represents the interests of 12,000 pilots working in concert with the 

80,000 dedicated employees of Delta. In 2012, the Delta MEC strongly supported Delta’s efforts 
Delta MEC Answer

Page 2

to establish Seattle-Haneda service. Seattle is an important – and growing – international hub 

gateway for Delta, providing quality U.S. jobs for Delta pilots, ground staff, and in-flight 

personnel. The Department agreed that the public interest was best served by making an award

to Delta for Seattle-Haneda service.

1

 The same public interest considerations relied upon by the 

Department to make the award for Seattle service over America’s LAX proposal and Hawaiian’s

Kona proposal in 2012 support the MEC’s call for dismissal of the current American and 

Hawaiian requests. 

American and Hawaiian make the absurd argument that Delta’s temporary seasonal 

reduction at Seattle is grounds for summary withdrawal of the slots -- and that the Seattle 

gateway slots should be put at risk for possible reallocation to the already well served Los 

Angeles or Hawaii Haneda gateways. Neither American nor Hawaiian does claim, nor could

they claim, that Delta’s winter season schedules on the Seattle-Haneda route are contrary to the 

express 90 day dormancy condition of Order 2013-2-4. 

Seasonal flight schedule reductions (especially in the off-peak winter season) are 

common in many international markets. And, as pointed out by Delta in its Answer, American 

has taken extensive scheduling liberties with its own limited entry frequencies in Brazil, allowing 

them to be dormant for periods of 90 days or more over the last decade. Given the challenges 

that all carriers providing mainland U.S.-Haneda service have experienced, including American 

Airlines on its abandoned JFK to Haneda route, Delta’s temporary reduction in the 2014/2015 

winter season is appropriate and consistent with this long standing airline practice. We note that 

Delta’s Seattle hub is growing rapidly and substantially: there will be more Delta and Deltaconnection flights supporting Haneda from summer 2015 going forward. 

 

1 Show Cause Order 2012-11-12; Final Order 2013-2-4.
Delta MEC Answer

Page 3

Of critical significance to American’s Motion and Hawaiian’s “pile-on” Answer is the 

fact that Delta’s current reduction in winter flight operations is fully consistent with all

applicable dormancy conditions. Simply put, Delta’s slots are not dormant. Furthermore, 

American and Hawaiian gloss over the fact that Delta is planning to operate and has published

schedules for daily Seattle-Haneda service starting in summer 2015. 

Delta is not walking away from Seattle-Haneda as American walked away from New 

York-Haneda just last year, at that time ignoring the opportunity to apply for service at Los 

Angeles. American now claims its Los Angeles-Haneda proposal is a “credible, well-considered 

service plan” (Motion, page 5) which is exactly what American claimed about its New YorkHaneda service proposal when it applied for slots in the original 2010 Haneda proceeding. 

Today there are two daily flights on the LAX-HND route, whereas American had JFK-HND to 

itself before voluntarily exiting last year. And, not only did American leave JFK-HND, it turned 

all of its New York – Tokyo flying (including JFK-Narita) over to its foreign flag alliance 

partner, JAL. Thus, where previously American operated one JFK-NRT flight, and JAL 

operated the other JFK-NRT, today there is no U.S. flag JFK-Tokyo service offered by the 

alliance, with JAL doing all the flying for oneworld. If Los Angeles was so important to 

American, it would have at least attempted to apply to move the slots to LAX, rather than 

abandoning them only to have United add still more California service at San Francisco. 

Moreover, an award of Haneda slots to American effectively doubles one world’s presence 

relative to Delta because American and JAL engage in reciprocal antitrust immunized 

codesharing, to say nothing of the benefits oneworld enjoys at Haneda by virtue of JAL’s huge 

slot holdings and large hub operation at this constrained airport.
Delta MEC Answer

Page 4

The action urged by American and Hawaiian is contrary to the express terms of DOT’s 

Ordering conditions, contrary to DOT precedent, and would violate well established principles of 

fundamental fairness and due process under applicable federal law. The slots used by Delta for 

Seattle-Haneda service cannot be summarily revoked. And, it is certainly not in the interest of 

the traveling public to put a cloud over Delta’s Seattle-Haneda slots while Delta is in the process 

of building its Seattle hub to provide, among other benefits, maximum connecting opportunities 

and additional traffic. 

DOT specifically fashioned the dormancy clause to allow for the very type of seasonal 

variations in service at issue here; no carrier should be penalized for using the flexibility allowed

by the Department. This is especially true when carriers have firm plans to resume service, or 

offer higher levels of service, as Delta does on the Seattle-Haneda route. If all it takes is the 

filing of a motion (with no notice that the DOT intended to deviate from its stated conditions), 

for the DOT to place the incumbent carrier’s permanent authority at issue, the DOT will chill and 

deter the willingness of carriers to make the investments in developing new routes. It would be 

extremely bad policy, and contrary to law as set forth in the Administrative Procedure Act and 

applicable federal case law, for the DOT to reverse course and put the Seattle-Haneda slots at 

issue in a route case when Delta is operating them pursuant to the terms of the original award. 

Delta’s two Haneda slots were awarded on an indefinite basis provided that the stated 

conditions of Order 2013-2-4 were met. Nothing contained in the American or Hawaiian 

pleading provide any legal or public interest basis to justify the withdrawal of the Seattle-Haneda 

slots from Delta, much less the institution of another Haneda carrier selection proceeding. For 

all of these reasons, the Delta MEC strongly opposes the inappropriate, unwise, and unlawful 

initiatives of American and Hawaiian to disturb the duly awarded Seattle-Haneda slots.
Delta MEC Answer

Page 5

Respectfully submitted,

Michael G. Donatelli

Chairman

Delta Master Executive Council

Air Line Pilots Association, International

100 Hartsfield Centre Parkway, Suite 800

Atlanta, Georgia 30354 

Mike.Donatelli@alpa.org
CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE

A copy of the foregoing document has been served this 17th day of October, 2014, upon the following 

persons via email:

howard.kass@aa.com

abigail.donovan@aa.com

robert.wirick@aa.com

charles.hunnicut@thompsonhine.com

patricia.snyder@thomsponhine.com

jhill@cooley.com

perkmann@cooley.com

bberlin@cooley.com

dan.weiss@united.com

thomas.bolling@united.com

steve.morrissey@united.com

lhalloway@crowell.com

gmurphy@crowell.com

Mike.Donatelli@alpa.org

dino.atsalis@alpa.org

Doug.Ralph@alpa.org

Ishiwata.K@portseattle.org

Safora.I@portseattle.org

sascha.vanderbellen@delta.com

chris.walker@delta.com

paul.gretch@dot.gov

brian.hedberg@dot.gov

brett.kruger@dot.gov

todd.homan@dot.gov

peter.irvine@dot.gov

englets@state.gov

cristinasa@state.gov

eugene_alford@ita.doc.gov

info@airlineinfo.com