DL seems mostly interested in flying to NE Asia with its own metal and lets KE fly to the rest of Asia. I'll be shocked if DL expands elsewhere in Asia in the next couple of years.

That makes sense, thanks. Just surprised (positively) at all the sudden love for NA-SA!

I was referring to Seattle-Tacoma. DL made a big bet on that place and has connecting flights from half of its domestic network. Its LAX connectivity certainly isn't bad either, and it's obviously a much stronger O&D market, but many (often much better) Asian and European airlines fly there from their home airports at low fares.

AA has actually talked about hubbing SEA because it has trouble making money at LAX, but I can't imagine this will happen if DL stands its ground. I would actually love to see either AA or DL make a play for SJC. I would certainly fly there instead of SFO. There is an existing thread in the AA forum about SFO. AA has no chance there because of UA's dominance, but SJC is currently fair game. IIRC, one of the main reasons AA left was because WN had vastly superior coverage up and down the West Coast and also kept fares low. Those low fares are not so much of a factor anymore, but they would obviously compete if attacked.

Manila MNL
 

DL tried to restart Manila in Jan 2021 from ICN but had to stop because of Philippine COVID Travel restrictions. This used to be very populat USA-Manila route whether thru NRT, KIX, NAGOYA or ICN. Wonder if thia will ever come back soon?

KE seems to work well enough for MNL, BKK, SIN, SGN, etc because those are long flights, even from Seattle. I would like to see them hit Asia like they did during their PDX days.

And once upon a time Delta bet on Portland as well with transpacific nonstops between PDX and Tokyo, Seoul and Nagoya as well as direct flights between PDX and Taipei and Bangkok, all flown with MD-11 equipment.

However, it didn't work with DL subsequently shutting down their "Asian mini hub" at Portland.....

I'm waiting for the ATL-CPT route to post for booking. Looking forward to taking the new non-stop!

Regulatory approval aside, the logical AA play IMO would be MIA - CPT although DFW - CPT should barely be in range on the 789s (slightly longer than DFW - SYD and shorter than PER - LHR although AA has a much denser config)

I know this is way off topic, but why do you think AA killed SJC? Dear moderators, I appreciate your leeway on this question. I'm genuinely curious about this topic. We DO have an AA thread that is probably more relevant, but jlemon posted here.

Yes and my point is that when NE Asia opens up completely, I could see DL ramping up tpac flights from SEA. However, it's most likely going to rely on KE to get its passengers to the rest of Asia.

I don't think AA is going to be able to make SEA its new tpac hub anytime soon. It still hasn't launched its PVG and BLR flights yet. It also needs AS to bring in traffic to make its SEA plan work.

I don't understand why DL doesn't fly direct to MNL. You're telling me that all DL USA-MNL flights have a layover in ICN?

American certainly tried to expand their presence in California, first by acquiring AirCal and later by acquiring Reno Air (which despite its name was operating a small hub at San Jose during the late 1990's). However, in both cases nothing much resulted from these efforts. American also partnered with Wings West with this commuter air carrier becoming the American Eagle affiliate in California. Meantime, Pacific Southwest Airlines (PSA) was acquired by USAir in order to expand their presence in California but nothing much resulted from this effort by US as well.

Which brings us to Southwest. It's interesting to note that Southwest management folks visited with Pacific Southwest at the PSA corporate headquarter in San Diego back when WN was still just a small airline. The Southwest folks no doubt learned quite a bit from their counterparts with PSA. So with AirCal, Reno Air and PSA no longer around and American and USAir apparently struggling with their respective expansion plans in California and the western U.S., Southwest simply did what they do best....they introduced "The Southwest Effect" on the west coast.

Delta tried to expand in California as well following their acquisition of Western. Back when the Embraer EMB-120 Brasilia and Metro III propjets were the only aircraft types operated by SkyWest, this then small commuter airline was the Delta Connection air carrier in California and the western U.S. However, Delta's expansion plans back at that time did not quite work out as well with SkyWest subsequently becoming the United Express air carrier in California.

As you may recall, I worked for a couple of small commuter air carriers that were based in California (and later for Alaska Airlines in California) many years ago. Those were interesting times for the airline industry in the Golden State.

And BTW, back in 1994 I served on the Delta Air Lines Business Travel Advisory Council in Los Angeles. We met on a regular basis at the former Western Airlines corporate headquarters building at LAX. It was a very interesting and fun experience and I still have a desktop Boeing 767-200 model that was given to me by the Delta folks. I also did not have any trouble getting upgrades on DL flights back then.

DL has historically been very strong domestically North/South but much weaker West/East with the majority of these one-stops routing through SLC.

Yep. Delta inherited the Salt Lake City hub from Western, of course, and then expanded it. I used to connect through SLC on DL quite a bit back in the day.

100%....Very few people actually stay on the Tahiti island which means you are forced to come the night before your flight and overnight in Tahiti to catch that AF flight...this will allow you to fly out on AF metal and return on DL metal and not have to spend any night in Tahiti itself

Yes, they do. They have more range. The range is 8,788 miles. They will make it. I think they have orders new B787-9ULH aircraft. The 787-9 will work. More than 9,500 miles long.

According of the Great Circle Mapper:

http://www.gcmap.com/mapui?P=DFW-CPT