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

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

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

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 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 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:

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