American Airlines Competes with United Airlines for Tokyo Haneda Airport Slots

American Airlines is entering the competition with United Airlines to secure slots at Tokyo Haneda Airport, which Delta Air Lines is relinquishing. Delta informed the U.S. Transportation Department on September 22 that it would not be utilizing its slots for flights from Portland International Airport to Tokyo Haneda. The pandemic-induced dormancy waivers, which allowed airlines to delay their Haneda flights, are set to expire on October 28.

Earlier this year, Delta had requested the DOT to grant airlines more flexibility in using slot pairs for Haneda flights from any U.S. market, rather than being restricted to the cities assigned in the 2019 slot allocation. However, this request from Delta was rejected by the DOT.

American Airlines has joined United Airlines in seeking the slots returned by Delta. American is proposing to operate daily, year-round nonstop service from New York JFK to Haneda. Currently, All Nippon Airways and Japan Airlines operate on this route.

American Airlines, based in Dallas/Fort Worth, already operates service from its hubs in DFW and Los Angeles to Tokyo Haneda.

Shortly after Delta returned its slots assigned to the Portland-Haneda route, United Airlines requested the slot pair for daily service from its hub at Houston Intercontinental International Airport to Haneda.

In its application, United emphasized that although Houston was not chosen in the previous Haneda route proceeding, the DOT recognized that United’s proposal would provide connections to Haneda from 32 U.S. airports and offer the southern United States an alternative U.S.-Haneda gateway. Delta currently operates to Haneda from its hubs in Atlanta, Minneapolis, and Detroit, and also has flights to Haneda from Seattle and Los Angeles.

United Airlines already offers service to Haneda from Los Angeles and its hubs in Chicago O’Hare, Newark, San Francisco, and Washington Dulles.

American Airlines has requested the DOT to institute a comparative selection proceeding now that both American and United have filed “competing, mutually exclusive applications for the seven weekly Haneda slot pairs that Delta has returned.”

Sources: AirGuide Business airguide.info, msn.com,, aa.com, aviationweek.com