I can entirely understand the rationale for the changes but this is quite seismic in the history of Virgin Atlantic. I'm sure Delta will be looking at the performance of the transatlantic business next year, and more announcements will be made.
Tokyo was the 3rd Virgin Atlantic route, launched 25 years ago. Any ambitions to fly to Moscow (if the route is ever liberalised), South America etc. will never be realised.
It is interesting to note that there's been no comment from Sir Richard Branson. I can't help but wonder how the arrival of a major US shareholder and a new CEO from American Airlines has impacted on the culture at the higher management levels of Virgin Atlantic.