Originally Posted by
mattkorey
I think it might have been "perceived" that way by some, but I think we all know that if it in fact was greatly successful it would not have been assimilated back into Delta. It was not doing well before it was halted as Song Airlines.
I believe two key factors drove the Song-reintegration back into Delta:
a. Cost side
Cost too much to run a separate brand; aircraft utilization also crimped due to its presence in select markets only
b. Revenue side
FFers deserted DL in droves in those Song markets due to the lack of an F product. Unit revenue plummeted.
Otherwise, most of the product attributes have largely remained intact back at Delta - the special cocktails, the AVOD PTVs, the leather seating, etc. Food For Purchase should also be coming back to Delta domestic later this year.
I also think that Song was Delta's initial knee-jerk reaction to JetBlue - they didn't know how to counter JetBlue effectively so they simply copied them (and introduced Song on routes where they competed directly). After they had time to look at how Song was performing and to strategize how to handle the JetBlues, they decided to fold it back in and introduce the product where it made sense...