I wrote in November that Delta wouldn’t be announcing this yet, but they planned to start flying to Manila. They still haven’t announced it, but they’ve now revealed they’re planning it to the Department of Transportation.
- Philippine Airlines is planning to launch service to Chicago O’Hare
- Delta submitted an argument that approval should be deferred because of lack of reciprocal access to desireable takeoff and landing times at the Manila airport
- They want the U.S. government to use Chicago approval as leverage to get Delta better times for their own service.
Delta Airbus A350-900
Specifically here’s what Delta says they’re planning:
Delta is pursuing plans to launch its own Manila service next summer (2027) with daily Airbus A350-900 service from Los Angeles (LAX).
Airbus A350-900
And here’s what they asked the federal government for.
Delta respectfully asks the Department to defer action until Delta and the U.S. Government receive written assurances from the Philippine Government that the slots and airport access necessary to implement planned Manila service will be available on commercially viable terms.
This is a flight that aviation watchdog JonNYC specifically called:
So with regard to Delta’s next moves internationally; SIN, MNL, and LAX/JFK-ICN are definitely in the immediate future. It’s further stated that future Asia expansion will launch out of LA -and- Seattle, mentioning ICN as an ideal hub for onward Asian travel but mentioning that…
— JonNYC (@xJonNYC) November 4, 2025
Delta has service Manila before, as recently as 2020, but from within Asia. Their last Tokyo Narita – Manila flight was March 27, 2020. They ha dplanned to start Seoul – Manila on March 29, 2020. That slipped to May 1, 2020 but – thanks to the pandemic – it didn’t start until January 2, 2021. And it was suspended months later, in May 2021.
I would normally expect Delta to launch Asia service from Seattle. They’ve called that their transpacific gateway. However I’d note that United flagged in an internal presentation that they’re number two in Los Angeles (behind Delta) and highlighted ‘key initiatives’ to grow there. So perhaps Delta could be leaning harder into Los Angeles in response.
Delta Air Lines at LAX
On the other hand, Delta’s Asia gateway in Seattle has struggled. They’ve added Hong Kong from Los Angeles. So perhaps their thinking has shifted.
Wish they’d open up an a350 base at JFK and fly from there because D1 would be far superior to Philippines. @Tim Dunn, get it done, son!
Que Mr Dunn
When Delta absorbed Northwest Airlines, they had a pretty complete routing of most major cities in the western part of Asia minus some in China. From there they retreated. I used to fly Northwest and if I had been able to continue flying on Delta, I would have. Delta rerouted a lot and made flying on them a mess and expensive. I started flying Asian airlines and have never gone back. I was comfortable with what I got from Northwest but EVA, my replacement airline at the time, was even better. Delta may be a better choice for flying nonstop to Manila from the USA but the cost is going to be much higher.
@MIAZiggy — Does anyone at actual Delta know about Tim? He’s like their #1 super-fan. I mean, if I ever had a major corporation, I could only wish for that kinda loyalty out in the wild. @MaxPower, there must a juicy backstory here. @Gene, you’ve been around for a while, what’s the deal?!
Premium
“Hey DOT… (nudge nudge) so we haven’t really gotten our act together yet about flying to MNL or really even doing much, at all, to get better times there, but please stall the ORD-MNL application while someone in international route planning gets their sh*t together for us… we know you hate United and AA. So do we. Kisses”
–Peaches & Widgets, Delta
I’m so glad I am the first thought on so many people’s minds.
I have said for years that DL would rebuild its Asian network and do it with a more efficient and capable fleet than any other US airline from more gateways across the US.
It was a given when PR said it would start ORD that DL would take advantage of the opportunity to get DL back into the MNL market. There is no reason why US airlines should be allowed to expand in the US if US carriers can’t also pursue the best opportunities at the best times.
2027 and 2028 will be some of the biggest years of international expansion in DL history.
and, jns, DL pulled back on its NRT hub because it didn’t make money on a sustained basis. When HND reopened to TPAC flights, DL had to choose to develop a strong TPAC presence at HND or keep a Tokyo hub at NRT but couldn’t have both.
You also realize that UA was the largest carrier across the Pacific in the late 2010s – just before covid – but only broke even? They weren’t interested in being profitable but in gaining market share.
Now UA’s profits are good across the Pacific but DL’s are greater on a profit/ASM basis. DL flies nearly all new generation aircraft and the A350-1000 will offer capability and efficiency that surpasses anything in AA or UA’s fleet.
DL didn’t necessarily want to reveal its plans for MNL just yet but they aren’t going to miss the opportunity to grow their TPAC network.
btw, LAX-MNL plus -ICN and -SIN will easily put DL in the leadership position at LAX not just for domestic but also international.
and, 1990, JFK to Asia is coming. DL is very methodical in its strategies. They will win in LAX and then shift to NYC to Asia and win there too.
MNL has a design capacity of 35M passengers/y and had 52M in 2025 – good luck getting your favourite time slots…
Tim, regarding jfk to asia what routes do you see delta trying outside of ICN? Here are some I would like to see
JFK-HND (if slots open)
JFK-KIX
JFK-PVG
JFK-TPE
JFK-BKK
I think there is a small chance delta could do jfk-hkg on a350-1000s if lax-hkg does well.
You really do have to admire the complete lack of shame from Delta when it comes to airport slots and times.
MEX: “huh. that is weird that MEX slots decreased as airlines were kicked out of the airport while DL/AM grew. We have no idea how that happened. We should still keep our JV. We didn’t see anything bad happen”
AMS: “Of course it’s a transparent slot process. Look how easy it is for KL and DL to acquire slots and move them around at AMS?”
HND: “We have a hub at Narita ergo we’re owed one at Haneda since we’re Delta and bankrupt NW got a sweet post-nuclear bomb deal in Japan that we’re riding 60 years later. Either you give us an entire hub at Haneda or we’re going to stall the entire open skies treaty for years then cry about getting the most slots for a US carrier then request to change the rules for the bad slots we requested that we knew would never be profitable. (oh. and then our fans on a.net will cry for years about us not bidding for JFK-HND)”
LGA: “WHAT DO YOU MEAN OUR POTENTIAL JV WITH WESTJET WOULD REQUIRE US TO DIVEST THE SLOTS WE ALREADY DIVESTED… to Westjet… WTF?! Does paying off the feds not work like it does in ATL?”
MNL: “So… this is awkward. we weren’t going to tell you. It was supposed to be a surprise once we made up our minds and we still haven’t decided… but we sorta kinda wanted to fly to MNL eventually and this feels like a much easier way to get the times we want at MNL vs actually working on it like United did. And our network team told us this is a super cheap way to see if we can mess with AA. Can we all just pretend that ORD-MNL should be stalled until we get exactly what we want without trying? We’re about 90%, ok… 64% positive we want to fly to MNL next year”
JFK-KIX, JFK-BKK? Forget it. KIX is not that large a market from the US and doesn’t really work outside of SFO.
BKK is pure leisure.
The rest? Maybe.
With a looming US recession, debt default, and oil now at their highest levels in a few years, these routes are pure fantasy. A few more weeks of war in the Middle East and you’ll see a few frothy Summer TATL routes get cut as well.