Major US airlines are playing the long game with their Asia strategies

US Airlines generally adopt a long term view in their trans Pacific strategies, often enduring short term pain for what they believe will be higher returns in the mid to long term.

The North America-Asia market is tough. It was plagued by overcapacity and low yields even before the US-China trade spat and political unrest in Hong Kong.

US airlines have long complained that securing favourable slot times at China's airports is a challenge, and American cut its service from Chicago to China last year, being eventually forced to return slots covering those flights that its rivals are looking to use.

There is no clarity on whether the trans Pacific fortunes of American, United and Delta will get worse before they get better, and there is no lack of scrambling by some of those airlines to gain coveted slots to ensure that they will be a competitive force in the trans Pacific for years to come.