DL expands SEA further with SEA-SFO flights

[WorldTraveler]

Looks like DL believes it needs to provide flights under its own control to feed its growing int'l operation at SEA (up to 8 destinations by next summer) with the addition of SEA-SFO flights. SEA-SFO flights will be operated up to 7X/day on E175s.

This past summer, DL added SEA-LAX on its own aircraft and currently has a mix of DCI and DL operated flights.

SEA-LAS was also operated 1X/day this summer on a DL aircraft and is being expanded to multiple frequencies per day on large RJs.

Interestingly, UA just noted that its RASM growth on int'l routes was weaker than expected due in part to increased industry capacity to China. DL and several Chinese airlines have added more than 50% more seats between the US and China over the past year.

 

[face]

i decided to wait for tomorrow instead to talk rumors.

 

[WorldTraveler]

out with it... there isn't much of the world where the sun is not up or hasn't been up for Thursday Oct 3.

 

[face]

haha except for us west coast people. still at home will find out soon. don't be getting all excited, it isn't all that big. but it does make sense for the ramp up of SEA flights.

 

[FWAAA]

The Delta faithful at Flyertalk are discussing the rumour that Delta is cancelling its SFO-NRT route early next year; no official word yet but the inventory has been zeroed out beginning in March, 2014, which usually signals route cancellation.

If that's true, then SFO-SEA makes a lot of sense to give SFO-based DL customers easy access to its growing SEA hub to Asia.

 

[face]

FWAAA is spot on. SFO discontinued next March. That flight was a non-rev special.

Also, after i wrote this yesterday i had second thoughts i went to delete. i couldn't find a delete so i did an edit of my post. that was the best i could do or would not have baited you guys with what is the big rumor that was really pretty small.

 

[WorldTraveler]

you did the right thing.....
any change in int'l flights for any airline is fairly significant so it is worth sharing.

That said, DL has said that they intend to focus their west coast operations on LAX and SEA. SFO-NRT competes directly against DL's largest Asian competitor and the use of the small BE cabin 767s shows that the business class demand is weaker than on other routes.

SEA offers many more destinations overall than SFO so the multiple SFO-SEA flights ensure that DL can compete in the SFO int'l market.

There have also been rumors that DL has been trying to do some gate swaps with UA so this could have a side benefit of helping move that process along - or not.

 

[Glenn Quagmire]

The Delta faithful at Flyertalk are discussing the rumour that Delta is cancelling its SFO-NRT route early next year; no official word yet but the inventory has been zeroed out beginning in March, 2014, which usually signals route cancellation.

If that's true, then SFO-SEA makes a lot of sense to give SFO-based DL customers easy access to its growing SEA hub to Asia.

Wow. SFO-NRT was a staple for NWA. We had that and the freighter operation for a very long time. Sad to see that pair gone. That flight was always full.

Does that mean the crew base is gone also, or has that already been eliminated?

 

[WorldTraveler]

I would think that you would realize that
1. Loads mean nothing. Revenue does. any airline can find enough people to fill a plane but operating flights to meet DL's profit targets is quite a different thing.
2. How many transpac flights did NW offer at its peak...any peak? Last I counted DL is operating 9 flights from the west coast alone to Asia
3. The world has moved on in the 8 years since your union went on strike. NW used to have a large operation nonstop to Scandanavia including from BOS but none of that existed by the time of the merger. NW decided that service to secondary cities in Europe could better be served by a partnership with KLM, who also happens to be strong to N. Europe. Don't suppose the same market forces that led to NW's suspension of those flights also played into why DL no longer sees SFO-NRT as viable.

 

[Glenn Quagmire]

8 would think that you would realize that
1. Loads mean nothing. Revenue does. any airline can find enough people to fill a plane but operating flights to meet DL's profit targets is quite a different thing.
2. How many transpac flights did NW offer at its peak...any peak? Last I counted DL is operating 9 flights from the west coast to Asia.
3. The world has moved on in the 8 years since your union went on strike.

I am not sure what that response was about. Contrary to what you would like, some of us here do not simply wait (or live) for someone to post something on the Delta board.

I have no idea how the "when your union went on strike" comment has anything to do with this conversation.

Maybe all here would do better to let you suffer again with having nobody posting anything on this board.

Good luck.

 

[WorldTraveler]

It means the world has moved on... that's what life does.

There are a lot of things that NW and DL and everyone else used to do in the airline industry but they mean nothing today.

SFO-NRT was a great market at one time.... apparently it isn't today... just like NW's flights at one time to ARN and OSL.

You seemed to waste no time in getting a response posted to my post. Are you sitting around waiting for a chance to post?

You and anyone else are welcome to post anything you want. But that doesn't mean I or anyone else is going to give you a pass because you pine about a past that doesn't exist anymore... a world you knew before you and your union decided to go toe to toe with NW.

My day isn't made or broken by whether I post or not on this forum.

 

[Kev3188]

GQ--

The F/A base still exists... at least as of this writing. Have a friend that flies out of there, and haven't yet had a chance to ask him if they've heard anything...

BTW, if you've ever wondered what life here is like post-merger, the above comments are a good primer. God help the person the dares say anything-no matter how innocuous- about NW.

 

[WorldTraveler]

except Q's statement was anything but innocuous.

Wow. SFO-NRT was a staple for NWA. We had that and the freighter operation for a very long time. Sad to see that pair gone. That flight was always full.

Does that mean the crew base is gone also, or has that already been eliminated?

NW's board decided their investment would be better off in the hands of DL.

DL has provided what the board expected. In spades.

There is a reason why report after report continues to come out highlighting how much better DL is run compared to any other airline in the US.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/dividendchannel/2013/10/03/delta-air-lines-moves-up-in-analyst-rankings-passing-denbury-resources/?partner=yahootix

And I still haven't heard an explanation about why NW quit flying to all those destinations in Scandinavia. I have some timetables with all of those lines from BOS to the Nordic lands. That was pretty cool too... but it wasn't economically viable.

The freighter operation was losing money when DL bought NW - they just left the dirty work for DL to do. It didn't all of a sudden start losing money when DL took over.

 

[Kev3188]

Spare us already.

There's nothing in GQ's comments that are any more than a look back mixed with some nostalgia. Perfectly reasonable comments to make. And in that context route performance is irrelevant.

 

[WorldTraveler]

yes, it is as relevant to be talking about why NW chose to quit its ARN and OSL flights as it is to comment how cool it was that NW fly a bunch of 25 year old 742s across the Pacific hauling freight and then wondering why the BOD decided that someone else could provide a better return on their investment.

I have commented many times about all of the postiives that NW brought to DL but I am not going to hold onto what NW did at one time as if it were part of a shrine. Everything we all do has to be weighed not only in the context of what it did at the time but also against today.

NW's Pacific operation was heavily concentrated around Tokyo which is and will continue to be a very important global city. But Japanese gov't policies in just the past year dramatically change the economics of what NW built.

DL's job is to keep making money despite the economic changes.

DL has made many tough choices about its own operations and network based on changing economics. It is hardly anything targeting NW.