Originally Posted by kop84

Except the distance to ORD is double the distance to DEN from LAX. Plus DEN is woefully under served T-PAC so several possible DEN/LAX/TPAC connections are doable. Other than SYD, I don't think DL serves anywhere from LAX that isn't available non-stop from ORD. And in DEN you're only fighting UA and sort of F9. In ORD you're fighting UA and AA and AS plus WN at MDW.

So for DL LAX/ORD would all be O/D. And on the ORD end, they have virtually no FF base, and the LAX end it's so fractured that it would be tough to fill those flights profitably. Especially since I checked on Expedia and you can get a flight from LAX to ORD leaving Monday the 21st and returning the 22 for $206 on AA. There isn't a lot of room to lower fares to get any market share on that route.

I have to believe that DL has given this route strong consideration but just can't make the numbers work. It's not like this is some obscure city pair that would have a ton of demand but no one has thought it up or is brave enough to try.