Delta wants to take United’s crown over the Pacific, too

RIO DE JANEIRO — Delta Airlines The country’s most profitable carrier but a hungry rival United AirlinesIt is much larger in the Pacific. Delta’s new president, Peter Carter, says it won’t last.

“We want to be stronger, better, faster in the Trans-Pacific, and we want to be the leading U.S. carrier across the Pacific,” Carter said in an interview with CNBC at the annual meeting of the International Air Transport Association. “Ultimately… the real goal is to be the leading global carrier, which is quite an audacious goal.”

Carter, who was promoted in March, said some of that will come from Delta’s joint venture with Korean Air, which merged with Asiana Airlines.

Delta posted net profits of more than $5 billion last year; United’s earnings were approximately $3.35 billion. However, for its Trans-Pacific business, Delta’s smaller network generated only $2.79 billion in revenue, while United’s was about $6.89 billion, company records show.

Trans-Pacific flights are often extremely profitable; long-haul flights incur high fees and are operated by aircraft with dozens of premium seats.

Both carriers are adding new routes. Earlier this month, Delta launched nonstop service between Los Angeles and Hong Kong. Meanwhile, United Airlines is planning a nonstop flight for premium ski traffic between its San Francisco hub and Sapporo, Japan.

Delta and United account for most of the U.S. airline industry’s profits.

Delta has spent much of the last two decades building itself into the United States’ luxury airline, from high-end lounges to lucrative partnerships. American Express.

United launched its own campaign using similar tactics, including heavy investment in technology, large aircraft orders and an international network with new destinations from Mongolia to Croatia to Greenland.

The U.S. air travel market, the world’s largest, is mature, meaning there is little room for significant annual growth. “When we actually think about the future, everything is going international,” Delta’s Carter said.

United CEO Scott Kirby said Sunday he was proud of Delta’s ambitions.

“He has great respect for Delta and what they do, and I take it as a huge compliment that Delta is starting to acknowledge that they have parity that they’re concerned about and they’re trying to compete with us,” Kirby said on the sidelines of the same conference.

When asked what he wanted to beat Delta at, Kirby replied: “Everything.”

Carter said in the interview that Delta cannot build on its current success.

“We always have to be hungry to win and I say that because I know United are competing with us there and copying the playbook a bit,” he said. “Bring them.”