Originally Posted by
WhiskeyBravo
While it's possible AUS could grow quite a bit, DL won't be turning it into a hub. Nor will they establish a Texas hub. The reason is because they just commited to the partnership with AM, and are realigning to use AM for connecting traffic. While Texas could still be used for domestic connections, if you take away a lot of the traffic heading to central and south america, the business case falls away. especially with SLC and ATL straddling it.
I'm thinking of mostly domestic traffic. Using AUS to route traffic to the West Coast and steal business from AA/UA (business travelers don't backtrack generally). I'd be looking at cities like BHM, and a few others in the South that would also carry enough O/D traffic to AUS.