Originally Posted by
tphuang
Now, Delta has made this strategic decision and is aided by making a lot of money on its fortress hubs at ATL/DTW/MSP. Even if individual routes out of NYC are not always profitable, it helps them retain the corporate contracts that help their systemwide performance. Which is why I think they are making this move.
The fortress hub argument really doesn't work. ATL, DTW and MSP have among the lowest fractions of O and D traffic among major U.S. hubs - although not as low as CLT. Most of the people traveling via those Delta hubs are connecting, and Delta has to be price and schedule- competitive with other one-stop options. Haters - and AA and UA management - don't like it but Delta runs a successful revenue management operation.
I don't predict that all of the new domestic D1 routes and frequencies will work (let's see the schedule a year after ops start) but it does show a strategy to compete with JetBlue Mint - in contrast to United's complete abandonment of JFK and Alaska's plan for 40-inch F seat pitch on 2500 mile flights.