Goodbye NRT-PVG, hello ATL-PVG
#16
Join Date: Dec 2014
Programs: HHonors Gold, Hertz 5*, SPG Gold, AMEX Plat, buys Spirit tickets at the airport ticket counter ;-)
Posts: 498
This is now the THIRD time DL is trying this route, after it failed terribly the last two times.
First time: Olympics so it was a "partnership plug"
Second time: who knows why? I flew it the second time they tried maybe 6-9 months before they cancelled it and the flight was no joke 10% full. EVERYBODY on board had their own row with plenty of empty rows in coach.
Why in the world do they think ATL-PVG is going to work a third time around? If anything do something like ATL-HKG, they would be the ONLY airline directly connecting HKG to the Southeast US. You can connect to way more of Asia out of HKG then PVG and not have to worry about all the transit visa junk too.
First time: Olympics so it was a "partnership plug"
Second time: who knows why? I flew it the second time they tried maybe 6-9 months before they cancelled it and the flight was no joke 10% full. EVERYBODY on board had their own row with plenty of empty rows in coach.
Why in the world do they think ATL-PVG is going to work a third time around? If anything do something like ATL-HKG, they would be the ONLY airline directly connecting HKG to the Southeast US. You can connect to way more of Asia out of HKG then PVG and not have to worry about all the transit visa junk too.
#17
Join Date: Apr 2011
Posts: 3,394
Delta's CEO, as recently as a couple months ago, said the airline remains committed to the "island" flights from Tokyo-Narita: Honolulu, Saipan, Palau, and Guam.
I also think Manila will remain because the Filipino-American community is dispersed so much that connecting through Tokyo-Narita accommodates passengers from multiple gateways.
Singapore is always full in business-class.
I also think Manila will remain because the Filipino-American community is dispersed so much that connecting through Tokyo-Narita accommodates passengers from multiple gateways.
Singapore is always full in business-class.
I would expect to see in the coming years SEA (or LAX) to SIN and or MNL once the new SeaTac customs facility is completed.
Full planes don't mean they are getting a good yield (or as good as they could get elsewhere)
I just see DL somehow paying a bunch of $$$ to some airline to get 1-2 more HND slots and then moving the few remaining US-NRT flights to ICN once the KE JV is up and running
#18
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Huntsville, AL
Programs: DL DM 1.929MM, Hilton Lifetime Diamond, IHG Platinum, Avis CHM, Marriott Titanium (lifetime gold)
Posts: 7,860
Money talks. Unlike airport incentives restricted in duration and amount by FAA regs, a private organization like MoA can subsidize a flight as richly and as long as it wants.
Fifth freedom rights are really from another era. Smaller aircraft with full TPAC range (think 777-200ER) killed NRT for UA and NW/DL. Death has been very slow in coming.
Fifth freedom rights are really from another era. Smaller aircraft with full TPAC range (think 777-200ER) killed NRT for UA and NW/DL. Death has been very slow in coming.
Yes the foreign hubs are going. Can anybody even remember the hub at Frankfurt decades ago.
But Emirates seems to be finding some creative uses for fifth freedom rights. And those uses are irritating the crud out of the US3.
David
#19
Suspended
Join Date: Dec 2011
Location: RDU
Programs: DL DM, HHonors Diamond, Marriott Platinum, etc etc etc
Posts: 2,341
If it ends up like the last two times though I will be using that route to Asia strictly because of the likelihood it will be a near empty flight in both directions. nice to have "premium economy" by default because of having your own row.
#20
Original Poster
Join Date: Jul 2012
Location: MSP
Programs: Delta PM, Hyatt Discoverist, Hertz PC
Posts: 2,303
But there's a limited number of ways for this route to happen — eliminate SEA or DTW to PEK, or reallocate the NRT-PVG flight. In the press release, it listed the other flights to PVG that DL would operate, and NRT wasn't among them.
#21
Suspended
Join Date: Jun 2005
Programs: Delta Diamond, Marriott Ambassador & Lifetime Titanium, Hertz President's Circle, United Silver
Posts: 6,334
They are committed until they aren't.
I would expect to see in the coming years SEA (or LAX) to SIN and or MNL once the new SeaTac customs facility is completed.
Full planes don't mean they are getting a good yield (or as good as they could get elsewhere)
I just see DL somehow paying a bunch of $$$ to some airline to get 1-2 more HND slots and then moving the few remaining US-NRT flights to ICN once the KE JV is up and running
I would expect to see in the coming years SEA (or LAX) to SIN and or MNL once the new SeaTac customs facility is completed.
Full planes don't mean they are getting a good yield (or as good as they could get elsewhere)
I just see DL somehow paying a bunch of $$$ to some airline to get 1-2 more HND slots and then moving the few remaining US-NRT flights to ICN once the KE JV is up and running
Plus, the U.S. Marines are being relocated in the next couple of years from Japan to Guam, which means Delta will likely see an increase in demand from the mainland for flights to Guam. Guam probably can't support daily flights to/from the mainland, so it makes more sense to route them through the existing Delta network in Tokyo.
Last edited by hockeyinsider; Jul 19, 2017 at 10:17 am
#22
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Sep 2003
Location: San Antonio
Programs: DL DM, Former AA EXP now AY Plat, AC 75K, NW Plat, Former CO Gold, Hilton Diamond, Marriott Titanium
Posts: 27,042
Can we have the title modified? Right now PVG/NRT is pure speculation. Agree its likely, but its pure speculation at this point.
#24
Suspended
Join Date: Jun 2005
Programs: Delta Diamond, Marriott Ambassador & Lifetime Titanium, Hertz President's Circle, United Silver
Posts: 6,334
If only Japanese efficiency and Japanese customer service and etiquette could be the corporate standard everywhere else Delta flies.
#25
Join Date: Apr 2011
Posts: 3,394
Delta makes a lot of money on flights out of Japan to the islands--Hawaii, Saipan, Palau, Guam, as these are major tourist destinations for Japanese. Assuming it could get additional slots at HND, could it still do these routes? I don't know. I can't, however, imagine it would be anymore expensive to fly to the islands from HND.
Plus, the U.S. Marines are being relocated in the next couple of years from Japan to Guam, which means Delta will likely see an increase in demand from the mainland for flights to Guam. Guam probably can't support daily flights to/from the mainland, so it makes more sense to route them through the existing Delta network in Tokyo.
Plus, the U.S. Marines are being relocated in the next couple of years from Japan to Guam, which means Delta will likely see an increase in demand from the mainland for flights to Guam. Guam probably can't support daily flights to/from the mainland, so it makes more sense to route them through the existing Delta network in Tokyo.
NRT has to be teetering at this point. And who knows if DL would with the Government contract for GUM to the US.
I just really think that within 5 years, DL may not even be at NRT anymore. Japan's population is upside down with more old people than young people, and they aren't the outsized economic power they were in years past. Not that they're small, just that others around them have grown exponentially in the past 30 years.
#27
Join Date: May 2008
Location: NYC
Programs: DL PM; UA 1K; AA 1MM
Posts: 4,516
I feel bad for all the employees at NRT, who are among Delta's best. I remember then-CEO Richard Anderson's in-flight welcome video about two years ago. It was filmed in Narita and he disingenuously praised Narita's operations and employees all the while he was implementing plans to cut it back.
If only Japanese efficiency and Japanese customer service and etiquette could be the corporate standard everywhere else Delta flies.
If only Japanese efficiency and Japanese customer service and etiquette could be the corporate standard everywhere else Delta flies.
#29
Suspended
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: SEA
Programs: UA Silver, BA Gold, DL Gold
Posts: 9,779
I feel bad for all the employees at NRT, who are among Delta's best. I remember then-CEO Richard Anderson's in-flight welcome video about two years ago. It was filmed in Narita and he disingenuously praised Narita's operations and employees all the while he was implementing plans to cut it back.
#30
Join Date: May 2008
Location: NYC
Programs: DL PM; UA 1K; AA 1MM
Posts: 4,516
Plus look at the horrendous loads on the DL PHL-LHR 757. PHL is not ATL.