Delta and American feud over Haneda route

Delta Air Lines wants U.S. regulators to seize American Airlines’ new route from Los Angeles to Tokyo’s Haneda Airport, just months after the latter won it.

American has failed to file schedules or offer tickets for flights between the two cities, according to a regulatory document filed by Delta on Thursday. Delta said this violated the government’s requirement, issued in mid-June, to start the route within 60 days. Delta ceded access to Haneda to American after a protracted fight between the two airlines.

"We’re still working through the process to obtain slots" from the Japanese government that would allow American to fly the route, Delta spokesman Matt Miller said.

American, as well as Hawaiian Airlines, complained to the U.S. Department of Transportation that Delta had allowed a route between Seattle and Haneda to nearly go dormant, and asked the department to revoke Delta’s right to fly it. U.S. carriers have only four slots at Haneda.

The government allowed Delta to retain the Seattle route in March, but only if it agreed to fly every day. Delta ceded its Seattle route over the summer after saying daily flights were not viable. American filled the void by winning DOT approval to fly from Los Angeles.

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Bloomberg News