Hawaiian Airlines has lost its bid to offer nonstop daily service between Tokyo’s Haneda International Airport and Kona on Hawaii island.
The U.S. Department of Transportation said Thursday it has tentatively approved Delta Air Lines’ request to transfer the carrier’s previously approved Haneda slot in Detroit to Seattle.
Hawaii island has been without scheduled flights from Japan since Japan Airlines ended service on Oct. 29, 2010, from Narita. A Haneda-Kona route would have generated $74 million of annual U.S. economic activity and supported an additional 1,400 jobs — mainly on Hawaii island, according to the Hawaii Tourism Authority. That would have been a big boost for the island, where the not-seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for Hawaii County in October was 7.5 percent, the highest of any of the state’s four major counties, according to data released Thursday by the Hawaii Department of Labor and Industrial Relations.
In September, Hawaiian Airlines submitted to the U.S. DOT 175 letters of support for the proposed Haneda-Kona route. Among those submitting letters were Gov. Neil Abercrombie, Hawaii island Mayor Billy Kenoi and George Applegate, executive director of the Big Island Visitors Bureau. Hawaiian had intended to begin service on about March 15 with its 294-seat Airbus A330-200 aircraft.
"Our application did a great job of outlining the economic benefit a Tokyo-Kona route would provide, and it included really strong support from the community and from our own ohana, so we’re very disappointed in the decision," Hawaiian spokeswoman Ann Botticelli said.
Under a U.S.-Japanese agreement, U.S. airlines are permitted to operate a total of four daily round-trip flights per day at Haneda Airport, where operations are limited. In 2010 the DOT awarded Delta two of those routes, one for service from Detroit and the other from Los Angeles. The other routes approved at that time from Haneda were Hawaiian Airlines’ Honolulu service and American Airlines’ route to John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York.
On July 30 of this year, Delta asked for the DOT’s approval to serve Haneda from Seattle rather than Detroit. Delta subsequently canceled its Haneda-Detroit route on Sept. 30 because it was underperforming the airline’s expectations.
In response to Delta’s request to transfer the route, three other airlines, including Hawaiian, filed proposals to offer a new daily flight of their own. American proposed service from Los Angeles and United Airlines from San Francisco.
The DOT said Thursday it tentatively concluded that it would be in the public interest to allow Delta to use the Haneda slot for service from Seattle.
"Delta’s proposal would provide the first nonstop service between Haneda and Seattle and provide a number of Western U.S. cities with their first one-stop connecting service to Haneda," the DOT said.
Delta said the Haneda flight will add to the airline’s growing Asian gateway in Seattle. In addition to Tokyo, Delta recently announced new service to Shanghai, and also operates flights to Beijing and to Osaka, Japan.
"This service … will provide significant benefits for consumers in the Pacific Northwest, boost the region’s economy and create jobs by further strengthening ties to Asia," Delta CEO Richard Anderson said.
Airlines have until Nov. 26 to object to the DOT’s order to award the route to Delta. Hawaiian said it is studying the decision before deciding whether to comment further.
Separately, Hawaiian said it has formed a new marketing agreement with San Francisco-based Virgin America that will allow passengers of the two carriers to redeem frequent-flier miles on each other’s flights.
Virgin America, which was launched in August 2007, offers flights throughout the U.S. and Mexico.
