Originally Posted by
Himeno
Well, DL could always give up their 5th freedom rights if they don't like using NRT.
Sure. One of the main reasons Delta walked down the aisle with Northwest was because of their NRT operations.
DL wants the status quo because keeping it that way doesn't necessarily benefit them more. It's just that changing it benefits AA and UA a whole lot more. No one is forcing DL to operate out of HND instead of NRT. No one is forcing DL to change their evening flight into HND to a daytime flight. However, they will never be able to transfer their entire NRT operation over to HND because HND is more congested than NRT.