Delta Leaks Plan For Singapore Flight And Major LAX Expansion

An attendee at Delta Insights, a meeting in Atlanta for the airline’s largest corporate customers, reports that chief commercial officer Joe Esposito laid out much of the airline’s network roadmap.

from airliners, summary of Delta Insights meeting, Joe Esposito

"all of the largest domestic business destinations will be covered from LAX" pic.twitter.com/Ppdxk4tu4W

— JonNYC (@xJonNYC) August 27, 2026

• “Singapore will be hot on the heels of MNL,” though Esposito didn’t say whether it would operate from Seattle or Los Angeles.
  
• Los Angeles – Seoul Incheon is coming, with no date given.
  
• Future Asia destinations could include Ho Chi Minh City, Bangkok, Osaka Kansai and Beijing. India remains dependent on the return of Russian overflight access.
  
• A large Los Angeles domestic announcement is coming next month, after which Delta says it will cover all of the largest domestic business destinations from LAX.
  
• Delta expects to put an Airbus A330-900neo on Los Angeles – London Heathrow by 2029 and hopes to restore the route for the 2028 Olympics.
  
• Delta has no plans for long-haul narrowbody flying. Esposito reportedly dismissed it as not a “best in class product,” clearly contrasting Delta with United’s new Airbus A321XLR strategy.
  
• The airline wants a Sky Club at Houston Intercontinental but hasn’t found workable real estate.
  

Singapore Is Almost Certainly A Seattle Flight

I reported in October that Delta planned to return to Singapore and Manila, and then reported Los Angeles and New York JFK – Seoul as part of its next wave of Asia flying.

Manila is now official. Delta’s Los Angeles – Manila flight will start three times weekly March 28, 2027 and become daily June 7, using an Airbus A350-900. Saying Singapore will be “hot on the heels” of Manila. Singapore Airlines already flies Seattle – Singapore nonstop.

Ho Chi Minh City has SkyTeam’s Vietnam Airline for local feed, and Vietnam Airlines already flies nonstop from San Francisco. There is no current U.S. – Bangkok nonstop. Both would be very long routes with substantial leisure demand but a tougher premium revenue challenge than Singapore.

Osaka could mean restoring Delta’s pre-pandemic Seattle – Kansai flight. United just announced Los Angeles – Osaka as part of its own huge international expansion. U.S. – China flying remains constrained by demand, politics, bilateral limits and the competitive disadvantage U.S. airlines face when they cannot overfly Russia while Chinese carriers can.

And “India when Russian airspace reopens” adds to the June 2025 Delta comment that it planned Atlanta – Delhi, but gave no start date.

Los Angeles – Seoul was on Delta’s near-term list last November. The route connects Delta’s growing LAX operation with Korean Air’s hub and would give Los Angeles corporate accounts a Delta-operated option. But Delta and Korean Air share revenue through their joint venture, so this isn’t adding a new competitor to the market and with Korean Air’s acquisition of Asiana there are fewer competitors than ever between the U.S. and Seoul which is good for Delta.

Delta Wants A Complete Los Angeles Corporate Network

Delta already announced Chicago and Newark from Los Angeles, and it serves competing airline hubs at Dallas, Denver and Houston. I reported in June that Philadelphia and Washington Dulles were coming. By my count, once those launch, Charlotte is the only remaining large domestic business market Delta would not serve from LAX. If “all of the largest domestic business destinations” is literal, I would expect at least Philadelphia and Dulles soon.

Delta just needs enough service that a Los Angeles corporate account doesn’t have to leave Delta every time an employee visits a competitor hub. A complete-enough domestic schedule also adds connecting passengers for Manila, Hong Kong, Melbourne, Shanghai, Seoul and the rest of Delta’s international buildout.

Delta has more than 160 peak-day departures to over 50 destinations from LAX. It’s the largest carrier by flights and seats.

London Is A Bet On A Huge Premium Cabin

Delta dropped its own Los Angeles – London Heathrow flight in May 2024, leaving the market to joint venture partner Virgin Atlantic.

Delta’s next batch of Airbus A330-900neos is expected to have 56 Delta One suites, which is nearly double the 29 on today’s aircraft. Delta’s 16 newly ordered A330-900s begin arriving in 2029. If Delta wants its own London flight operating for the Los Angeles Olympics, it would have to use a current aircraft, obtain an earlier delivery or make some other fleet adjustment before the new A330s arrive.

And because Delta and Virgin Atlantic jointly plan and share revenue on transatlantic flying, a Delta flight doesn’t necessarily mean more total LAX – London capacity. But this is still a big premium bet albeit on a big premium market. Delta withdrew from the route in 2024 with only 29 business class suites, and would return with many more but also with more domestic feed and more corporate contracts than they had at the time.

“Best In Class” Is A Typical Delta Questionable Claim

No airline engages in marketing puffery like Delta. United just announced the largest international expansion in its history, with its Airbus A321XLR making five new routes to secondary European cities possible. Esposito’s response is that a single-aisle plane isn’t “best in class” and Delta will stick with widebodies (for now) which they say are.

Delta can make that choice because Air France, KLM and Virgin Atlantic already carry its customers onward through their European hubs. It doesn’t need to put its own aircraft into every secondary city. United will have the better nonstop network while Delta avoids risking planes on thin routes.

Finally, in Houston Delta operates from Terminal A and has no Sky Club there, making it one of the largest holes in its lounge network. Air France and KLM lounges in Terminal D aren’t a good substitute for domestic Delta passengers. Delta wants to fix this, but “real estate issues” means there is no live project.