Delta Air Lines has significantly boosted its capacity at
West Coast airports, including a 35 percent year-over-year increase at
Seattle-Tacoma, a 27 percent increase at Portland and a 20 percent increase at Los
Angeles, according to a report to be published by aviation data firm OAG this
week.
Since July 2012, Delta has increased capacity 123 percent in
Seattle and accounts for more than one in five available seats at the airport,
according to the report. While its growth in the most recent year owed largely to
domestic capacity, Delta also is making the airport a key connection to Asia. Seven
Asian destinations are available, and Seattle is now Delta’s eight-largest hub.
“It’s a niche play that offers them many advantages in terms
of connectivity to key Asian markets without having to compete in L.A. against
every airline, both American and Asian,” OAG executive vice president John
Grant said. “The test will be sticking it out in the good and the bad times,
but strategically, it’s a great competitive advantage.”
Delta’s main competitor in Seattle—Alaska Airlines, which
controls about 46 percent of capacity there—also has grown its mostly domestic
route network, although it has lost share to Delta’s more rapid growth. The
pair remain codesharing partners, but Alaska has become a much smaller
contributor of Delta’s international flights, according to the report. In 2011,
Alaska Airlines accounted for 22 percent of feeder traffic at Seattle for Delta
flights outside of the United States; by 2014, that number had dwindled to 7
percent.
“Given the scale of Alaska Airlines operations at [Seattle],
its role as a regional carrier and the history of its codesharing agreement, it
might seem that there should still be room for cooperation,” according to the
report. “But the evidence points toward a new direction for each carrier, with
Delta initiating the move apart.”
Grant added that Alaska remains a formidable competitor for
Delta in Seattle, with a long operational history at the airport and one of the
best on-time records among U.S. airlines.
Delta’s growth in Portland also has boosted its capacity
share to 16 percent, compared with 12 percent this time last year, though it
still trails Alaska and Southwest Airlines in terms of marketshare at the
airport, according to the report. Its growth there has been on existing routes,
as well as a Portland-to-Seattle route added last year in competition with
Alaska.
At LAX, Delta’s capacity growth has moved it ahead of United
Airlines as the second-largest operator in terms of capacity, behind American
Airlines, according to OAG. Over the past year, Delta has added 227,000 seats
at the airport, the report indicated.
“It is worth noting that [Seattle] as an airport, irrespective of which airline provides capacity, has been gaining ground on LAX,” according to the report. “A few years ago, [Seattle] offered just half the capacity that LAX does, but in July, [Seattle] is offering three seats for every four at LAX.”