It does seem like Austin is on the path to becoming a small hub, according to an interview this past week with Paul Baldoni, Delta’s SVP of Network Planning. He said once it gets to 120 daily departures, which they plan for, they’d consider it in hub territory “whether they call it that or not.”

I’m no expert, and I could be wrong, but I don’t think it would provide much relief in this situation given Atlanta’s scale. That being said, for those saying Delta needs more hubs, it seems like one is in the works.