Why Delta Air Lines Is Betting Its Entire Pacific Future On Just 2 West Coast Airports

Delta Air Lines is narrowing its transpacific strategy to two West Coast gateways—Los Angeles (LAX) and Seattle (SEA)—as it looks to make up for a roughly $4 billion Pacific revenue deficit. Rather than matching United Airlines’ hub-for-hub spread centered on Chicago (ORD) and Newark (EWR), Delta is concentrating long-haul Asian growth through those two airports and using heavier belly-cargo capacity on its Airbus A350-900s. United leads the market, bringing in $6.88 billion in Pacific route revenue in 2025 versus Delta’s $2.79 billion. Delta’s test begins with daily LAX–Hong Kong service launching June 6, 2026, using its 275-seat A350-900.