Delta: King of the World?

Updated with recent stock price.

ATLANTA (TheStreet) -- Delta(DAL Quote) wants to leave no doubt that it is the world's dominant airline.

It will let nobody stand in its way, particularly American(AMR Quote), the second largest airline, with which Delta has picked a fight.

The prize? A significant presence at Tokyo's Narita Airport, the most important airport in the world" fastest growing aviation market. American has it, a result of its partnership with Japan Air Lines, Narita's largest carrier. Delta wants it, and is negotiating to replace American as JAL's partner.

In early afternoon trading, Delta shares were down 46 cents to $8.50, while shares in AMR were down 41 cents to $7.54.

"What Delta does here is bid up the thing so American spends a lot of money, because American is desperate to keep JAL," says aviation consultant Mike Boyd. "That's a good strategy (for Delta). This is sound, wonderfully nasty competition. It shows you why we should be proud of the U.S. airline industry.

"The whole global airline industry is in the tank, except in the U.S., where we have visionary leadership that goes for each other's throats," Boyd said. "This may be the one U.S. industry that can take over the world."

Of the three largest carriers, American is the only one without a Narita hub. The relationship with JAL enables American passengers at Narita to fly beyond Tokyo on JAL. But JAL is deeply troubled financially and is currently seeking to restructure. In early June, American began talking with its management about expanded cooperation and a potential investment.