DOT Formally Grants 12 Haneda Slots To US Airlines

In February I wrote about how US airlines would be getting 12 additional daytime landing slots at Tokyo’s Haneda Airport. This came thanks to talks concluding between the US and Japan, which should be available by the summer of 2020, in time for the Olympics.

In total American, Delta, United, and Hawaiian, requested 19 additional Haneda frequencies, though there were only 12 available. So given that there were more requests than available slots, the DOT had to go through a process to decide how to award them.

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Then in mid-May the DOT tentatively granted 12 slots to US airlines, though there’s always a period where the public can comment.

Well, this has now been finalized, and nothing has changed. 12 US daytime Haneda slots have now formally been granted to US airlines.

As I explained in the past, the DOT makes these decisions based on what they think maximizes the benefit for consumers, and based on taking into account the order in which airlines prioritize these requests (below is a chart showing the order in which airlines prioritized these requests).

For context, US airlines currently operate the following six daily flights to Tokyo Haneda:

• American flies from Los Angeles
• Delta flies from Los Angeles and Minneapolis
• United flies from San Francisco
• Hawaiian flies from Honolulu and Kona

So, how did US airlines do with their requests?

Delta granted five of six Haneda slots

Arguably Delta is the biggest winner here. Delta requested a total of six Haneda slots, and they were granted the following five:

• 1x daily Atlanta to Haneda flight using 777-200
• 1x daily Detroit to Haneda flight using A350-900
• 1x daily Honolulu to Haneda flight using 767-300
• 1x daily Portland to Haneda flight using A330-200
• 1x daily Seattle to Haneda flight using A330-900neo

They weren’t granted the following slot:

• 1x daily Honolulu to Haneda flight using 767-300

Given the number of airlines flying between Honolulu and Tokyo, I think it’s not too surprising they were rejected for the additional Honolulu to Haneda slot. The airline has already announced that they plan to cease operations from Tokyo Narita as a result of this.

United granted four of six Haneda slots

United requested a total of six Haneda slots, and they were granted the following four:

• 1x daily Chicago to Haneda flight using 777-200
• 1x daily Los Angeles to Haneda flight using 787-10
• 1x daily Newark to Haneda flight using 777-200
• 1x daily Washington Dulles to Haneda flight using 777-200

They weren’t granted the following slots:

• 1x daily Guam to Haneda flight using 777-200
• 1x daily Houston to Haneda flight using 777-200

Here’s the DOT’s explanation for why they weren’t granted the Guam to Haneda slot:

United’s Guam proposal would require the allocation of a scarce Haneda slot pair to provide short haul flights in a leisure oriented market. While the Department appreciates the benefits that passengers might enjoy with access to the downtown Haneda airport, the large Guam-Tokyo market is already well-served at Narita, and the Department tentatively finds that an allocation here would not represent the best use of a limited Haneda opportunity.

And here’s their explanation for why they’re not granting the Houston to Haneda slot:

The Department recognizes that United’s Houston proposal would offer connections to Haneda from 32 U.S. airports, and would provide consumers in the Southern United States with an alternate U.S.-Haneda gateway to those proposed by American and Delta. The Department tentatively notes, however, that many of the cities with proposed connections over United’s Houston hub, including a number in the Southern United States, would enjoy one-stop service over other gateways proposed by United with higher priorities in this proceeding, and in some cases with less circuity than would be experienced on connections over Houston. In view of the potential benefits of the other proposals that the Department is tentatively selecting here, and considering the carrier’s placement of this proposed service as part of its lowest-ranked priority, the Department has tentatively decided not to make an allocation for United’s Houston-Haneda proposal.

American granted two of four Haneda slots

American requested a total of four Haneda slots, and they were granted the following two:

• 1x daily Dallas to Haneda flights using 777-200ERs
• 1x daily Los Angeles to Haneda flight using 787-8

They weren’t granted the following slots:

• 1x daily Dallas to Haneda flights using 777-200ERs
• 1x daily Las Vegas to Haneda flight using 787-8

The DOT not granting the second daily Dallas to Haneda slot makes sense, since they don’t find the demand to be significant enough to warrant it. But what about the Las Vegas to Haneda slot?

The Department recognizes that Las Vegas is the fifth-largest mainland U.S.-Tokyo market, however, American proposes to offer connections to only five U.S. points over Las Vegas, four of which are being tentatively selected in this proceeding for nonstop U.S.-carrier Haneda service of their own.14 In view of the potential benefits of the other proposals that the Department is tentatively selecting here, and considering the carrier’s placement of this proposed service as its lowest-ranked priority, the Department has tentatively decided not to make an allocation for American’s Las Vegas-Haneda proposal.

Hawaiian granted one of three Haneda slots

Hawaiian proposed adding 3x daily Honolulu to Haneda flights operated by A330-200s, for a total of 4x daily flights in the market. The DOT just granted them one additional frequency, though.

That’s not too surprising, given that this is a crowded market.

Bottom line

The DOT has now finalized the 12 Haneda slots that they’ve had to award, so we should expect airlines to be revealing details about these routes pretty soon.

I’d say the DOT’s decisions are more or less in line with what you’d expect. They consider how much demand they perceive there to be for these routes, and balance that with the ways in which airlines prioritize the routes they want most.

In general:

• The Honolulu to Haneda rejections aren’t surprising, given what a crowded market it is
• I find the Las Vegas to Haneda rejection to be an interesting one, as the DOT argues that there are limited connecting opportunities, though also notes that it’s a big market; I imagine American would have gotten it approved if they ranked it higher, but they ranked it as their last choice
• It seems United’s Houston to Haneda route was rejected because they prioritized it last, and it offered no meaningful benefit for connecting passengers that wasn’t offered via another hub
• Perhaps United’s Guam to Haneda rejection is the most interesting, as the DOT argues it’s primarily a leisure route and that Narita will do for that

Are there are any decisions here that you find surprising?