Anyone know why Delta dropped all of it's Pacific route

[B777ER 2,483]

I was just reading some interesting comments over in the airliners.net forum about Delta. I know they have just one Pacific route left, the ATL-NRT daily with an MD11. They used to fly to a whole bunch of places in Asia not that long ago. What happened? I know they have an extensive European route network beyond London (unlike American and United). There is also a rumor that Delta will drop it's sole ATL-NRT route in December as well concentrating on the US and Europe. I cannot see why they would give up the only Japan route from the southeast US and a precious Narita slot as well. I didn't realixe that with ATL's hot weather that their MD11 daily to Tokyo had to leave with 30-40 seats empty in order to make it non-stop. Apparently I guess the MD11 is more a hinderence than a profitable aircraft for this particular route. I remember back in the late 80's that Delta was developing a Pacific route structure out of PDX but I guess they gave that up as well. That's to bad they are giving up the whole Pacific region. I thought this was the hottest growing region for the aviation industry? Any comments or answers would be great.Eric

[Guest SoaringSpirit777]

They probably are dropping it do to loss of interest in the route or its coming to costly to operate that route daily.Tracey Mouldshttp://www.ar-source.com/images/flags/FlagUSA.gif"LETS ROLL" http://ftp.avsim.com/dcforum/User_files/3d712e2b40bde39b.jpgCreated by Sascha Jelack@ipk_wladimir@gmx.netTake a look at my photo's of SLC, ATL. www.geocities.com/planepics2001

[Guest Delta_747]

From what I hear it is only a rumor. The Flight Schedules at Delta.com show that they are still flying it in June of next year. The .PDF format schedules do not say it is being discontinued unlike some flights in the list.Plus Delta will make a lot of unhappy customers by dropping the NRT route. This would mean that you would have to go ATL-ICN-NRT on KE or XXX(being a connection)-ATL-ICN-NRT. Most travelers would rather go on DL over KE and nobody likes to have to stop unless it's nesscessary.And Delta could easily take a 777 instead of the MD-11 and not have to sacrafice seats but they cannot do this I belive because of the pilot contracts.

[Guest]

Yeah, Narita's the only route left. Haven't been able to catch a glimpse of a DL plane yet... :( but have seen CO, NW, UA... :) http://212.212.159.238/svedude/imagesP/jp_sig1.jpg

[01pewterz28 117]

Two reasons why Delta is doing this.1. Switching the route to an Alliance partner 2. Load factors most likely do not warrant the service anymore for Delta to make a profit. With JAL offering 747 service JRAA-ATL daily. Plus with Northwest and United as the dominating carriers in the Pacific it may not be worth it for Delta to continue from Atlanta.If I am not mistaken I believe DL is planning on a code share agreemnt with CO/NW that will give DL more access via NW's code share into Asia.John

[B777ER 2,483]

Well John, that code share theory makes the most sense. I thought though that JAL gave up it's NRT-ATL route? Maybe I am wrong but I thought the only international airlines flying into ATL were SAA, BAW and Lufthansa? Chapman, what do you mean by those pilot contracts? I figured DL would have used a 777 a long time ago for the ATL-NRT route?

[Guest Delta_747]

These are reasons why Delta hasn't been flying the 777 to Japan:a) Crew rest facilities:( ETOPS 180 certificationDelta had plans to send 777s to Japan in Fall of 2001 when the first Crew rest equipped 777s were avalible, but this did not happen because of 9/11.Hopefully this is all not true and Delta will keep the NRT route.Maybe someday we will see Delta serve Bangkok, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Nagoya and other routes in Asia.

[Guest]

Dropping International routes is not as easy as dropping Atlanta to Memphis. International routes are governed by treaty between governments. If an airline does withdraw another carrier may step in to take over the route. The Japanese are very "closed" in their granting authorities. Also depending on the treaty types (aka "Freedoms") the treaty may specify what city-pairs or airports may be served.Taking a guess at the pilot's contract part....could be maybe two or more things:One is when a new model of a/c is brought on-line a pay scale and staffing requirements have to be updated. On a trans-Pac there are issues of relief crews etc..which caused DL some problems between ALPA and Management in the past.Another is how the ALPA contract reads regarding code shares and marketing agreements vs. job security for crews. To drop trips to allow another carrier to fly it under your code-share can spark union problems. It just depends on the contracts and "needs" of all the parties involved.Or maybe post 9-11 they parked a lot of long-range a/c and don't have the planes available... Timothy

[NWATech 95]

Delta will be having a more limited presence in the Pacific Rim now. You can read the somewhat old news here.

http://www.startribune.com/stories/535/3185934.html

[Guest]

Can't they just connect flights in SLC and do they're Asian flights there? It would be a lot better and the passengers would only have to make a connection in Salt Lake City.LONG LIVE THE DC-10 !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Guest]

BTW Delta used to fly into Nagoya and now the only place that's close to it is HNL (Honolulu)

[Guest Delta_747]

There has been no confirmation weather this flight has been dropped. In fact you can book seats on this route well into 2003!

[Guest]

That and pilot contracts, not enough pilots want to fly the 777 for such little pay compaired to UAL and AAL.

[B777ER 2,483]

True, you may be able to book seats through 2003 but when you get to the gate, you may see a KAL 744 at the gate (there Sky Team partner). You couldn't give me a free first class ticket on KAL after reading there in-house saftey findings!

[Guest Delta_747]

I still think it's going to be a Delta operated flight. Why would KAL opperate between ATL and NRT when there not even based out of Japan?You can book this flight as far out as July 31, 2003 and it's still operated by a MD-11.