Delta Air Lines, which is competing against Hawaiian Airlines for an available U.S. slot from Tokyo’s Haneda International Airport, says Hawaiian should not be awarded a proposed route to Kona partly because the majority of passengers on Hawaiian’s flights are Japanese tourists.
The world’s second-largest airline made the comment in a filing with the U.S. Department of Transportation in a bid to convince the DOT to allow Delta to shift Haneda service from Detroit to Seattle. Delta is ending its Detroit-Haneda service Sept. 30 because it said that route is "underperforming."
But the DOT, which awarded one of four available Haneda slots to Delta in 2010 specifically for the Detroit route, reopened bidding for the slot to determine whether Delta should be given a new city pairing or whether there is a better alternative use.
Haneda is considered an attractive airport as it is in central Tokyo, unlike Tokyo’s main international airport in Narita, which is about an hour’s train ride from the city.
Hawaiian Airlines, which already has a Haneda-Honolulu route, has applied to fly between Haneda and Kona using the slot previously awarded to Delta.
"Unlike Hawaiian, Delta will use this limited Haneda opportunity to serve U.S. citizens and businesses, rather than transport Japanese tourists in the well-served Haneda-Hawaii marketplace," Delta wrote in its filing Friday. "Hawaii already has three nonstop Haneda flights while Seattle and the Pacific Northwest region have none."
Hawaiian fired back in its reply to the DOT that "this supposed weakness" of a high level of passengers originating from Japan "is actually one of Kona’s greatest strengths."
"Economic development generated by foreign tourists traveling to the U.S. is an affirmative public interest factor, and not the strike against Hawaiian’s application that the other applicants seek to characterize it as," Hawaiian said.
Hawaiian pointed out that Delta, United Airlines and American Airlines — all vying for the one available Haneda slot — failed to mention that foreign-originating passengers spend money in the United States and drive economic growth.
United, which is seeking a Haneda-San Francisco route, said the Haneda-Kona market is three times smaller than the Haneda-San Francisco market, has no connections to the mainland and consists of less than 3 percent local passengers.
"Thus, Hawaiian’s proposal will benefit virtually no U.S. consumers," United said.
American is seeking a Haneda-Los Angeles route.
Delta noted that Hawaii already receives three nonstop Haneda routes operated by Hawaiian, Japan Airlines and All Nippon Airways. Delta said the Hawaiian, JAL and ANA flights to Hawaii represent a combined 37.5 percent of all available Haneda slots, and if Hawaiian’s Kona proposal were granted, 50 percent of Haneda slots (four of eight overall Haneda slots to U.S. and Japan carriers) would be operated to Hawaii.
Delta said 95 percent of passengers on existing Tokyo-Hawaii flights are Japanese tourists, and the Tokyo-Kona market is even more heavily Japanese at 97 percent.
"It is not in the public interest to have so many limited entry opportunities concentrated in Hawaii to the exclusion of service to U.S. citizens and U.S. businesses seeking access to Tokyo’s preferred close-in airport," Delta said in its filing, adding that Hawaiian could fly from Narita if it wanted another Tokyo route.
Mike McCartney, president and CEO of the Hawaii Tourism Authority, said in a letter to the DOT that the Haneda-Kona service would generate $74 million of U.S. economic activity each year and support an additional 1,400 jobs — mainly on Hawaii island, which has been without nonstop service from Japan since JAL pulled out from Narita on Oct. 29, 2010.
"Tourism is the largest single source of private capital into Hawaii, and the biggest generator of jobs among the major economic sectors," McCartney wrote. "The importance of a vibrant tourism economy is difficult to understate as it influences all sectors of our state’s economy and is chiefly responsible for the quality of life for the majority of residents."
Hawaii attracted 1.3 million visitors from Japan in 2011 and hopes to bring in more than 1.4 million this year, McCartney said.
Delta said Seattle is the largest West Coast business center without Haneda service and should take precedence over another Hawaii route. At stake, Delta said, is "whether U.S. citizens and U.S. businesses should enjoy the important convenience of new service to Tokyo’s preferred downtown airport, or whether Japanese tourists should have a fourth Haneda flight to the Hawaiian Islands."
Hawaiian was awarded one of four Haneda slots offered to U.S. carriers in 2010 and used it for service to Honolulu. Hawaiian had sought two Honolulu slots, but the DOT gave Delta slots for Los Angeles and Detroit, and American the other slot for John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York.
