Bagels

(updated 6/24)

Effective this fall, DL will be discontinuing service

between CVG & FWA, SDF, SBN and YUL;
between MEM & GTR, LFT, LEX, MLI and MSN.
in addition, CVG-IAH will switch to CVG-HOU.

MEM will be the first PMNW hub to transition to all-jet as Saab 340 flying will cease.

There will also be numerous frequency reductions. MEM will peak at less than 175 daily departures and CVG in the low 130s. Pending any further decisions, this should complete the bulk of the reductions previously announced for MEM.

Bagels

CVG to IAH & SDF are also being cancelled.

IAH is a surprise; DL routinely carries roughly 100 passengers per day on the route with average airfares floating between OW$250 and $300.

Expect more service reductions & eliminations at CVG. For example, DL's been offering around 450 weekday seats between CVG & BWI, despite carrying an average of 80-100 passengers. With the reduction in feed, this level of service will no longer be sustainable.

bkmn

It is truly sad that less people will be exposed to Memphis BBQ as a result of this service reduction.

I loved to connect in MEM, if nothing else to grab some BBQ on the way home. MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!

I'll have that pound of pork to travel hon.

Every1 Get A Life

According to the electronic timetable...CVG-IAH is getting axed....but CVG-Houston is not

AUDirt

The fact that MEM-GTR has hung on this long kind of shocks me.

Heck, the fact that GTR still needs four flights a day kind of shocks me.

Bagels

Good catch; DL's switching the service to Hobby. CO's gradually gained market share on this route, pushing DL to around 40% market share (a sharp decline from year's past) so DL's trying to differentiate itself by serving HOU.

I stand by my earlier remarks: We'll probably see continued frequency reductions and service eliminations at CVG as fall approaches, unless oil plunges and/or the economy miraculously recovers. Markets such as ORD (12 weekday flights, 680 seats, 125 local passengers flying DL); BDL (8 weekday flights, 400 seats, 90 local passengers); etc. are candidates for frequency reductions whereas other routes that serve to feed the hub and lack local traffic are candidates for elimination.

I've seen a listing of alleged targeted reductions at CVG and while it's nothing overly drastic, it's fairly significant.

robtking

I loved MCO-MEM-LEX for Lenny's in MEM. It will be very missed......

rylan

Thats a shame whats happened to CVG, and it appears that MEM is going in the same direction.

I wonder if MEM is going to be dehubbed at some point in the near future.

Bagels

I'll bet that DL will try as much and as long as it can to make MEM work as a hub within its network. But MEM has a small local market, strong LCC competition (and may grow stronger with WN absorbing FL) and is largely redundant with ATL. Nor is it needed as an ATL reliever. Thus, if MEM is unprofitable as a hub, it'll continue to shrink.

CVG has less competition and a stronger business market. The number of flights & destinations will likely continue to shrink, but it'll remain a hub per se into the long-term future as the flights will be orchestrated to enable connections.

Berto

Not really surprised to see MEM-MLI service getting dropped. MLI will still have MSP, DTW, and ATL service, so there is still a decent amount of coverage there. I fly there once a year to visit family in that area, and MEM has been a good option for when ATL just doesnt work out for me (coming from the Florida Panhandle) for one reason or another and as a nice backup should something happen to an ATL bound flight. That being said, I typically avoided flying ECP-MEM-MLI as it meant a trip of nothing but CR2s. ECP-ATL-MLI gives me the option of MD-88s on the ECP-ATL and CR7s on the ATL-MLI and as a result more often booked it that way.

FYI, looks like it ends on 9/6/11.

Bagels

CVG-SBN gets whacked. CVG will peak at just 27 daily mainline departures.

Spyro

It's hard to say one way or another. We all hope that it does not get dehubbed, but who knows. As mentioned in a prior post, MEM is highly redundant with ATL flights and connections; also, the overwhelming majority of passengers through MEM are connecting, instead of originating. However, Delta has relatively lower operating costs in MEM because Fed Ex pays a lot of the landing fees and other airport costs. I was hoping that DL would build up MEM, but it looks like for now that they'll continue to strip routes, not necessarily because the routes are performing poorly but because it is cheaper to consolidate through ATL in most cases. One particular MEM route that concerns me is the one transatlantic route, MEM-AMS. While I've heard that this flight performs well, once again it would probably be cheaper for DL to eliminate this flight and use other hubs for AMS connections. Likewise, I'm also concerned with CVG-CDG for similar reasons.

personaltravelaid

I do not think it will be cut. Dating back to something I saw in March on the news (WMCTV I believe) said that DL stated that they will keep the AMS flight and the top performing 50 cities. PMNW (2007 or 8) had somewhere around 85(?) destinations. Then last summer there were 80 cities (trust me, I had to make a chart for some elderly people that watch flightaware to see when we land to come pick us up at the airport), which I think there are around 70 (give or take a few) now after the cuts.

I know that MOB, MLU, MGM, MLI , (what is the pattern with Ms?), GTR, LEX, and LFT will for sure be slashed. But, we have also seen some other reductions all along such as AEX and MSL. Then there are the SF3 flights that are going away, just because the fleet is being retired (TUP, GLH, PIB).

AUDirt

I know that MGM, MLI, GTR, and LEX have been announced. But has a MOB cut been announced for sure? That would kind of suck for me. I may wind up moving to MOB in the next 9 months -- the MEM-MOB route would be convenient while house hunting.

Stripe

AUS-MEM is currently one CRJ-900 and two CRJs daily. It goes to three CRJs in the fall. That sucks, especially since DL forces many connections to west of the Mississippi to go via MEM or SLC. And it's a nice connecting point for flights to the northeast.

NW used to serve the route with three DC-9s each day.