Originally Posted by
flyerCO
WN has issues. They're losing passengers now that bags aren't free. Now it costs more than the big 3 in a lot of cases. Also the new WN has said will be going away from point to point and doing more hub and spoke style. Basically Im not sure what WN will be in a year or two
AA had to pull back due to pilot scope. They had demand, but not demand for mainline.
DL needs something in TX, so i see AUS becoming that. Right now flying DL from TX to anywhere in Midwest/Central US is basically a non option, has have to fly to MSP/ATL/DTW 1st.
I don’t spend a lot of time following WN, but I’ve had the impression they transformed into a modified hub system maybe 15-20 years ago. Just that they had multiple smaller hubs rather than the mega hubs that the Big 3 have. Eg, I’d consider BWI, MDW, LUV, DEN, OAK (I’m sure others too) to be hubs.
Re what Delta needs to do… I don’t know that they “need” to provide service in the south central US. There’s already tight competition with AA, UA, and WN for much lower population than other regions in the country.
Right now they’re in an interesting place: each plane delivery means they can either start a new route/increase service to an existing route, or retire something old and save on fuel or maintenance costs. So whatever that expansion is, it’s got to be underserved and pretty pricy to fly between.