Originally Posted by
Jeff767
Couple of things to consider. Delta’s NRT hub was dead and buried when HND was opened to international traffic. UA pacific presence came from buying Pan Ams operation. SEA is profitable for Delta. Their margins there are as good or better than Alaska. Delta dropped Alaska because they wanted a monogamous partner. Alaska was dating around. SEA from a cost standpoint is the best place to jump off for Pacific flights. If Delta left SEA fares would soar.
Alaska has a better pretax margin than Delta (11.4% vs 9.8%). There is no way Delta’s domestic margins in Seattle are good or better than Alaska’s.