Kilili hopes Torres convinces Delta to reconsider

Delegate Gregorio Kilili C. Sablan (Ind-MP) hopes that Gov. Ralph DLG Torres works with Delta Air Lines and manage to convince it to reconsider its decision to withdraw from the Marianas.

Sablan told Saipan Tribune he is hoping that Torres and the Marianas Visitors Authority “will do everything they can” to change Delta’s decision to pull out flights to and from the CNMI.

“Losing this route is a major inconvenience and added expense for travelers from the Marianas who want to get to the mainland U.S. And it makes it difficult for tourists from Japan to visit the Marianas,” said Sablan, adding that over 50,000 Japanese visitors arrived in the CNMI in 2017.

Comparing the event to when Japan Airlines withdrew flights in 2005, the delegate understands that Delta’s decision to pull out is a business move.

“As with JAL, Delta’s decision is probably purely business. Delta can use its equipment on routes that are more profitable than the Saipan-Tokyo route,” Sablan stated.

He pointed out that Delta is a U.S. carrier, so the decision to pull out has “nothing to do with cabotage.”

Cabotage restricts the operation of transport services within a country to that country’s own transport service; in Delta’s case, within the U.S. and its territories.

Torres was scheduled to arrive on Saipan last Tuesday after attending a hearing in Washington, D.C. regarding the CNMI-Only Transitional Worker program, according to press secretary Kevin Bautista, and was unable to comment as of publication.

In a previous statement from the administration on the matter, Torres was set to meet with the management of Delta this week to “reiterate” their partnership with the CNMI.

MVA managing director Chris Concepcion and Torres met with Delta Airlines executives in Tokyo last November and were assured that the Narita-Saipan route will be maintained.

Delta’s decision to pull out from the CNMI was made by the Delta in Atlanta and was reportedly part of their U.S. mainland route expansion.

“While we are genuinely disappointed about this decision, I remain committed to the Japan market and the historical and cultural ties between the Marianas and Japan. We will be meeting with Delta Air Lines next week to reiterate our partnership, but we will keep our options regarding the route open. We are very grateful to Delta for their 29 years of service to the CNMI and its partnership over the decades,” Torres had said.

“It is our collective goal to remain on top of the shifting markets here in the Pacific, and that includes making sure that visitors from Japan can continue to visit our islands, and our people continue to have viable air transportation through the Narita route, which is a historical one for many of our friends and families. I will continue to work with MVA, [the Commonwealth Ports Authority], our leaders, and our community to achieve this shared goal,” he added.

Delta would cease to operate in the CNMI and Palau starting this May 6, 2018. It ceased operation in Guam last year.

The pullout would affect the Saipan-Narita route and heavily impact travel and imports from that region of Japan. If the pullout pushes through, that would result in no more direct flights to Japan from Saipan. Anybody going to Japan would have to transit through Incheon, Seoul, or Hong Kong.