Delta blinks (again)
 

Delta puts expansion plans at Sea-Tac on hold | KIRO-TV

I recall some of us talking about the lack of gate space and other infrastructure issues a few years ago when Delta started down this road. I still think buying Alaska is the best way for Delta to take over SEATAC.

If Delta were to buy Alaska at this point, there would be a massive forfeiture of gates / infrastructure forced upon it by the DOJ to make the deal go through, arguably to the point of making the deal not worth it in the long run.
Alaska is still valuable in that it keeps the real revenue killers, ALG/NK/FRT at bay as well in SEA.
Sort of like the fact that since SWA has taken over AT in ATL, the yields to many of the domestic markets have risen.
SEATAC really wants to be an international gateway, and this kind of stuff is what it takes to get politicians moving towards getting the customs upgrades that otherwise may take decades.

It will never be allowed by DOJ. Certainly anti-trust. Delta "wanting to expand" isn't a valid economic reason to have almost no competition in SEA, especially now that AS has purchased VX.

Also, since AS just paid $4B (cash and debt) for VX, DAL would have to pay $10B for AS, and that makes no sense at all. It's not going to happen because of economics for DAL or DOJ disapproval.

You said it all. Hit the nail on the head.

Read the article. International only. But if AS wants to celebrate a win for DL not adding a couple more China cities & FRA, have at it. They could add more INTL but flights would be in off hours and not sync with the hub. In fact DL will be announcing further domestic flights very soon - and even more if they can get Port to sign off on reconfiguring the B gates for 3 additional parking spaces.

They're right about customs congestion, last month backed up all the way into the jetway.

Way to really over react! This has to do with putting pressure on SEATAC to get moving on the international terminal. According to EB, it's only temporary since they don't want to force the customers to stand around in customs. In a longer interview, he stated that if other carriers want to mistreat their customers that way, fine, but Delta wasn't going to.

If celebrating this makes you and AS feel good, have at it. In the end, it doesn't change anything. Just don't be surprised as the domestic part continues to ramp up and before you know it, you're inundated with a bunch of C Series!

My 737 can beat up your 737.

Except in JNU! :D

Pretty soon there will be some new virgins flying in there.