DL is starting LAX-HKG. Smisek-era UA would definitely started dialing back LAX-HKG frequencies...I imagine UA keeps the 2x frequencies going for now because of the expansion to SGN and BKK, but I have to envision UA will be going back to 1x daily out of LAX if they start SFO-SGN and SFO-BKK (can't imagine UA starting those from LAX direct first).

There seems to be room in the market for the Delta flight. CX has gone light on LAX and SFO since Covid in order to focus on JFK, ORD, and BOS (routes that command high fares that UA won't touch until it is allowed to overfly Russia again).

Looking up CX 801 (ORD-HKG), it hasn�t overflown Russian airspace for as far back as my FlightAware account can look. In fact, it�s flying the same route as UA 881 (ORD-HND).

Right, but UA still doesn't want to fly it. JFK is CX's major cash cow (BOS to a lesser extent) because they own the market. I think going easy on the West coast routes partially comprises an olive branch to UA (i.e. remember the full page newspaper ad they ran through their union complaining about Russia overflights being unfair?).

Didn�t UA pull ORD-HKG pre-Covid? IIRC, that route had already been axed before the pandemic hit. So the signs were already there. EWR had been long standing back to CO days though.

If UA can't fly SFO-SGN/BKK due to Russian airspace and they wanted to get rid of one of the LAX-HKG flights, could they upgrade one of the HKG intra-Asia flights to a B77W? (this would basically mean using the SFO-HKG A/C instead of the LAX-HKG A/C)

I found a few sources that say Sept 2019!

At its height ORD-HKG was 2x747, then 772 and 747, and then 1x772.
But CX is doing quite well on the route apparently.

HKG had a down turn in travel due to the demonstrations / mainland China crackdown before COVID. And then COVID was the double whammy.

Yeah I flew CX on that route and it was packed recently. I flew United when they had a 747 on the ORD route. I also flew HKG SGN on a United 747 in First and that HKG based crew was amazing. One if the best I have had. United had much better service in the 1990s and earlier 2000s compared to now. I flew HKG LAX recently and Polaris was half empty and the service was terrible in Polaris. I would choose Cathy Pacific anyday now over United in terms of quality and service after trying them out. United will need to improve its quality and customer services if they want to compete on routes to HKG. I am just amazed how empty HKG has been for United while other airlines are packed. Fares in coach and premium plus were low out of HKG, while United charges way too much for Polaris out of HKG for the customer service and quality they provide to Polaris paying customers.

• HKG-BKK and HKG-SGN were losers the last time they tried, and air fares are much lower now.
• They already fly from SFO to SIN (twice a day, in fact), which is much further than BKK or SGN, so the Russian airspace excuse doesn't hold water there.
• What's with all of this talk about them wanting to ditch an LAX-HKG flight?

That was brought up because Delta announced flying LAX-HKG. It is a puzzling addition, and if anything you�d think that if they wanted to get back to HKG, they would go with SEA-HKG.

But either way, not sure why United would retreat from their 2x frequency. If anything I�d think they would compete and force Delta out.

Agree, UA is unlikely to back off HKG based on DL adding the route.
Huh? No need to overfly Russian airspace for either of those routes.

LAX-HKG sustained 5+ flights per day prior to Covid, while SEA couldn't even support 1. I agree that DL should give SEA-HKG a try if they want to have any shot at realizing their hub dream, but launching a route that is likely to make money first/instead doesn't exactly defy logic.

When I lived in Seattle, I used to tell people that the best Chinese food in Seattle was in Richmond (BC � a suburb of Vancouver). Demographics may have changed since then, but at the time (~15 years ago) there was a lot more Japanese presence than Chinese. I agree that LAX makes more sense for DL even without as much connecting feed. And I hope that UA keeps its frequencies too. The more choices, the better.