Originally Posted by
bobbybrown
I'm trying to reserve excitement until Delta confirms it. The article (or rather the press release by the airport) says as if PDX-HND won't come back but it's only temporarily suspended. For a few months, though, PDX-ICN will be the only nonstop to Asia from PDX, since HND won't resume until when the winter schedule begins.
Hopefully PDX-ICN happens... it is one of those routes that make sense, and with USA-Europe traffic down, it might be a good chance for DL to test the route out with a spare widebody.
As far as PDX-HND, there is a long, complicated history on the HND slots. The slots (for all US carriers) are effectively controlled by the US DoT, and not the airlines themselves. Which means if DL drops the route, they are opening themselves up to the DoT reassigning the slot to another carrier. DL does not have the ability to move the HND flight to another destination, and should they drop it, I am guessing AA would push to “keep the service in the PacNW”, petition the DoT to give them the slot, and launch their own, new SEA-HND... (a route DL currently has permission to fly, that AA currently cannot).
So to keep the flight from their competition, my guess is DL retains the PDX-HND route, even if it remains “Covid suspended” for as long as DL can justify the suspension.