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New Routes, A Baggage Guarantee & Delta & American Continue to Spill Blood in their Ongoing Battle!

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delta american battle lax

There are a few news items relating to Delta, so I thought I would group them together here. Today I’ll talk about the DOT ruling regarding Delta’s SEA-HND slot, a new battle raging between Delta and American at LAX, Delta’s new permanent on-time baggage guarantee and their expansion in Colombia.

Delta Retains Haneda Slot

 

delta american battle lax
Haneda Airport in Tokyo.

A few months ago I wrote about American Airlines’ challenge to Delta’s Seattle, Washington to Tokyo, Haneda slot. American asserted that Delta was wasting the slot since they were running only the minimal number of flights required during the low season.

As part of their proposal, American committed to operating daily flights between Los Angeles and Tokyo Haneda. Hawaiian Airlines also jumped into the fight with a commitment to fly daily from Kona, Hawaii to Haneda.

In response to the petition, Delta asserted that they would begin flying nonstop on the SEA-HND route, thus invalidating the argument of the other airlines. On March 27, 2015 the U.S. Department of Transportation ruled in Delta’s favor with the stipulation that they operate the route daily. You can see the full text of the decision here.

Big Battle in Los Angeles

delta american battle lax
Flying out of LAX at night.

Just as one fight between American Airlines and Delta has been settled, another one is sparking up. Alaska Airlines currently operates a once daily flight from Los Angeles to Mexico City. In an effort to streamline their service, Alaska has agreed to turn over the slot to American Airlines who will operate twice daily service between the cities.

After American filed for the clearance to take over the route, Delta filed a complaint asking the USDOT to deny American’s request and open the route up to competition. Delta went on to say that they would operate three daily flights between the two cities.

For Alaska, this move makes sense since they will codeshare the American Airlines Mexico City flights and free up their plane to fly on other routes. For Delta, this seems to be an opportunity to stick it to both Alaska and American Airlines, so I am not surprised by this move.

Bloomberg has a great article about this battle including a look at the bigger picture as United, Delta & American all battle for dominance at LAX.

Delta Baggage Guarantee

delta american battle lax
I thought some people might get a kick out of this! Photo by David.

Delta has made their “Bags on Time” program permanent. The program is simple. As they put it, “If your checked bag doesn’t arrive at the carousel in 20 minutes or less after any domestic flight, you are eligible to receive 2,500 bonus miles.”

To get the credit you simply need to fill out this form.

HT: @laptoptravel on Twitter

Delta Expands with New Routes to Colombia

delta american battle lax
Photo by Alan Watkin.

Delta Airlines has announced two new routes to Colombia from their hub in Atlanta. The two new routes are ATL-CTG (Atlanta to Cartagena) and ATL-MDE (Atlanta to Medellin). Delta will operate one flight daily in each direction on the ATL-MDE route and three flights weekly on the ATL-CTG routes. The times are as follows:

Flight Number

Departs

Arrives

Frequency

Effective

DL 983

Atlanta (ATL) at 5:30 p.m.

Medellin (MDE) at 10:10 p.m.

Daily

Dec. 19, 2015

DL 982

Medellin (MDE) at 7:40 a.m.

Atlanta (ATL) at 12:54 p.m.

Daily

Dec. 19, 2015

Flight Number

Departs

Arrives

Frequency

Effective

DL 989

Atlanta (ATL) at 9:45 a.m.

Cartagena (CTG) at 1:50 p.m.

We,Sa,Su

Dec. 19, 2015

DL 984

Cartagena (CTG) at 2:50 p.m.

Atlanta (ATL) at 7:10 p.m.

We,Sa,Su

Dec. 19, 2015

Conclusion

Since Delta dishonestly removed their award charts this post probably has more information about the company than you care to know. With that said, I am always interested in the drama of airline battles, so I will stay tuned to see what happens in Los Angeles.

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Shawn Coomer
Shawn Coomerhttps://milestomemories.com/
Shawn Coomer earns and burns millions of miles/points per year circling the globe with his family. An expert at accumulating travel rewards, he founded Miles to Memories to help others achieve their travel goals for pennies on the dollar. Shawn also runs a million dollar reselling business, knows Vegas better than most and loves to spend his time at the 12 Disney parks across the world.

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2 COMMENTS

  1. Shawn –

    Thanks for this blog article…

    I am absolutely certain that one of the biggest fare war battles is starting to brew in Latin American and Caribbean routes. Richard Anderson (CEO of Delta) has made it very clear that he intends for Delta to become the preeminent carrier in those regions. The recent partnership alliance with AeroMexico is just a hint of what’s to come…

    As a Delta flyer who logs a lot of miles with them and has the freedom to travel to various locations I can only hope this will make opportunities for consumers to visit these areas more economical in the coming months!

    On a side note, I cannot wait until Cuba opens up for the Big 3! I am sure the fare wars will be boiling on that route at its inception!

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