As the DL hubs turn...

In scheduling my quarterly trip from Ohio to the Pacific Northwest, I need to fly KDTW-KPDX on the outbound leg for the first time in about four years. I was very surprised to find that DL doesn’t currently fly this route (the occasional trip launched from KDTW in the past couple of years has seen me going to KSEA or KGEG on the first leg). This used to be a solid route for NWA - was this a recent development, and if so, are changes coming to KDTW with the onset of the KLGA hub operation?

From the old thread about Delta (which descended into name-calling :open_mouth: and is best left alone), what’s the status of the DL hub operation at KCVG with Comair’s demise? The general party line was that other operators would step in to fly the Comair routes, but did the net result see any additional reductions in DL service?

Looks as if KMEM is holding steady - could be wrong, however.

Does DL have any significant penalties or TIF suspensions at KCVG/KMEM if they don’t maintain a minimum number of flights at either location over a specified period?

This was never a solid route for NW. It was often seasonal and never had much frequency. NW also didn’t even offer it until the mid 2000’s. The fact is that it’s a fairly small O&D route and is much more efficiently served from MSP and/or SLC.

Comair’s demise has not substantially affected flight offerings at CVG.

MEM, however, is seeing additional reductions in short-haul regional flying. It will probably reach a point where MEM will only be connected to DL hubs and large O&D destinations (like BOS, DFW, MCO, FLL, TPA, and DCA). After the merger DL tried serving areas in Texas more from MEM where it is geographically superior to ATL, but MEM’s much smaller O&D market made it not worth it and the routes performed worse than their ATL counterparts and the capacity was shifted back to ATL.

DL has no obligation to either city/airport other than their space leases. DL recently renegotiated their leases with CVG to their scaled back footprint which allowed the other carriers to move into Concourse A and the airport to close Terminal 2.

Well, say “so long” to KMEM as a Delta hub :frowning:

news.yahoo.com/delta-drop-memphi … 32757.html

In the long run this will benefit MEM (at least compared to where they are today). The new schedule will be optimized for O&D traffic rather than connecting traffic (ie more early morning flights) and with it officially not a hub, other airlines may be more likely to add other flights. Southwest is already adding a number of markets this fall. I can see F9 returning and NK adding flights to their top destinations (DFW, FLL, LAS) as well. I however do not see much opportunity for other network carriers to add flights with DL’s pull-down. MEM-LAX/SFO on United would require mainline aircraft If US hasn’t added MEM-PHX already I don’t know why they would now (although a morning flight would probably do OK). They could also add MEM-PHL. I don’t see AA adding NYC service as I imagine that DL will keep that market pretty sewn up. Perhaps AA could try to compete with DL on MEM-LAX with the myriad of new narrowbodies they have coming online in the next few years, but I think there’s lower-hanging fruit than that.