As you’ll recall, United has been aggressively pursuing Haneda slots. They went after and lost Delta’s surrendered Portland-Haneda slot. But their second, more convoluted fight has paid off, as United secures the former Hawaiian Haneda slot.
When United went after Delta’s unused slot pair, they also attacked Hawaiian for squatting on the slot pair used for its Kona-Haneda service. During its initial request, United expressed its desire to use one slot for Houston-Haneda and the other for Guam-Haneda. Unfortunately for them, the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) ruled in favor of American’s New York JFK-Haneda flight and deferred a decision on their Hawaiian complaint.
In a lucky twist for United, Hawaiian decided to surrender its third Haneda slot, citing difficulties in operating its Kona-Haneda and third Honolulu-Haneda flights in a financially sustainable manner amidst depressed Japanese demand. And with virtually no competition for the slot, it news that United secures the former Hawaiian Haneda slot should come as no surprise.
United Secures the Former Hawaiian Haneda Slot
The Guam Daily Post reported on February 17, 2024, that DOT had posted a Notice of Action indicating that it was awarding United Hawaiian’s returned nighttime slot pair. Per the Daily Post, the DOT stated, “[the slot pair] will become available upon its return to the Department on April 2, in order for United to provide year-round daily scheduled transportation of persons, property and mail between Guam and Tokyo Haneda.”
As you’ll recall, Hawaiian previously used the slot pair to operate four weekly flights between Honolulu and Haneda, along with thrice-weekly flights between Kona and Haneda. However, Hawaiian has a hard time operating its two daily Honolulu-Haneda flights profitably, so it wasn’t utilizing this third slot pair in a manner consistent with the DOT’s requirements and eventually chose to return the slots effective April 2. Hawaiian is operating KOA-HND flights as HA851/852 but is only doing so a couple of times per month.
For its part, United announced on February 23 that it was commencing Guam-Haneda service on May 1, 2024, pending DOT approval. These flights will operate once daily year-round and will complement United’s existing 32 weekly flights between Guam and Narita.
Like its existing GUM-NRT service, United will utilize Boeing 737-800s on its new GUM-HND service. The aircraft will be configured in a 166-seat, three-class configuration featuring 16 recliner-style “business class” seats, 48 Economy Plus seats, and 102 Main Cabin seats.
Flights are currently scheduled to depart Guam at 7 pm ChST and arrive in Haneda at 10 pm JST. Return flights are scheduled to depart Henda shortly before midnight JST and arrive in Guam at 4:45 am ChST the following day. These times are great for those looking to maximize their vacation time in Guam, but are kind of rough as well, given how late you return home in Japan and how early you land in Guam – you’d have to wait nearly the whole day to check in to your hotel!
Final Thoughts
The fact that United secures the former Hawaiian Haneda slot isn’t all that surprising. The nighttime slot is not an easy one to operate, so there wasn’t likely to be much competition on it. Whether or not United can make the route work remains to be seen. I’m sure Guam is doing better than Hawaii when it comes to Japanese tourism, but still.