Originally Posted by
AirlineDeregulation
Delta is not getting rid of the Tokyo hub. It's a very important asset to the airline. While they might be using it differently than NW did (to transfer mainly American passengers rather than Asian ones), any rumor that Delta will be getting rid of NRT is stemming from disgruntled NW passengers with their own theories.
This sums it up. Basically, there are a few grumpy folks that like to leap at any change as a sign that DL is intent on dismantling NW. I wouldn't read too much into their grumbling, nor would I read too much into any cancellations or schedule adjustments over the past year, as TPAC traffic was hit really, really hard this year.
Now, over the long-term, I would think that DL might reduce reliance on NRT as a connecting point. I know I read somewhere that DL has stated that stand-alone Asia traffic was pretty much negligible, and that only connecting traffic kept many of those routes afloat. If that is true, then I could conceive of a scenario where DL seeks to push some of those connections to SEA or LAX or elsewhere if they had the aircraft and the demand, and if the economics were favorable. But, I don't see that happening in the near-term.
I would think that (assuming Asia and TPAC traffic recovers) NRT would have a place as a connecting point for some destinations that can't support a lot of non-stop, ex-US flights, even over the long-term. I would think that DL would seek to grow capacity with any overflights, rather than just replacing what they have now.
The other wild-cards would be if they either got the JL deal done, where they may shift much of the intra-Asia flying to them, or if they did a TPAC JV deal with KE, where you might see ICN begin to supplant NRT as an Asian connecting point.