DL Hub Strategy - Casual Discussion Thread
Dec 31, 2010, 9:27 am
#16
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ATL serves travelers going nearly everywhere. Every major market in the United States feeds through ATL. They serves lots of European routes. To say people going to ATL are going to Atlanta, the southeast, or Africa is incredibly too simplified.
Dec 31, 2010, 10:22 am
#17
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Dec 31, 2010, 11:02 am
#18
Join Date: Jul 2010
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CVG is dead, but I imagine MEM will keep going. Delta has a lock on many smaller towns in the South, so having a second hub (in addition to ATL) to handle all that traffic will be helpful. Plus, my understanding is that MEM is still a very profitable airport.
I hope they don't close it. One of my biggest wishes (after resumption of RDU-LAX and RDU-SLC) is mainline jet service on RDU-MEM. It's the only thing that keeps me from using it as my primary hub.
Growing up in the South, the belief was that if you died and went to heaven you still had to go through Atlanta.
I hope they don't close it. One of my biggest wishes (after resumption of RDU-LAX and RDU-SLC) is mainline jet service on RDU-MEM. It's the only thing that keeps me from using it as my primary hub.
Growing up in the South, the belief was that if you died and went to heaven you still had to go through Atlanta.
Dec 31, 2010, 11:04 am
#19
Join Date: Apr 2010
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Miscellaneous comments.
ATL - Main hub for whole DL network especially southern tier. Serves everywhere. Only significant latin america Hub in network! Delta probably makes more money per pax in LA than EU from ATL.
CVG - Sorry, writing is on the wall, you will become a focus city eventually Im afraid. Too bad, I like connecting in CVG better than ATL.
JFK - Will grow, but mainly due to O&D. If there is one place I would avoid more than ATL for connections its JFK. Maybe the new terminal will change that. DL wants to win NY
MEM - Will survive as the domestic alt connector for ATL. Could use this hub to gain market share in TX region maybe (steal customers from DFW/IAH).
DTW - Main northern tier connector hub. Main Asian gateway, but will be fortified with good EU and some LA routes.
MSP - Alternate northern tier connector hub, but more significant than MEM. Basic international routes to Asia and EU maintained. Many markets served from here than cannot be effectively served from other DL hubs.
SLC - probably the only hub that cant have most of its feeder flights served from a different DL hub. Its mostly Skywest serving rinky-dink Western Cow-towns. (Disclamier - I live in a rinky-dink western cow-town). But no other hub could serve these markets effectively. Dehubbing SLC, would effectively give the entire inter-montain west market to United at DEN.
SEA - Not a hub per se, but acts like one because of codeshares with AS, will probably grow more, especially if DL continues to buddy up with AS.
Happy Flying
Swinster
ATL - Main hub for whole DL network especially southern tier. Serves everywhere. Only significant latin america Hub in network! Delta probably makes more money per pax in LA than EU from ATL.
CVG - Sorry, writing is on the wall, you will become a focus city eventually Im afraid. Too bad, I like connecting in CVG better than ATL.
JFK - Will grow, but mainly due to O&D. If there is one place I would avoid more than ATL for connections its JFK. Maybe the new terminal will change that. DL wants to win NY
MEM - Will survive as the domestic alt connector for ATL. Could use this hub to gain market share in TX region maybe (steal customers from DFW/IAH).
DTW - Main northern tier connector hub. Main Asian gateway, but will be fortified with good EU and some LA routes.
MSP - Alternate northern tier connector hub, but more significant than MEM. Basic international routes to Asia and EU maintained. Many markets served from here than cannot be effectively served from other DL hubs.
SLC - probably the only hub that cant have most of its feeder flights served from a different DL hub. Its mostly Skywest serving rinky-dink Western Cow-towns. (Disclamier - I live in a rinky-dink western cow-town). But no other hub could serve these markets effectively. Dehubbing SLC, would effectively give the entire inter-montain west market to United at DEN.
SEA - Not a hub per se, but acts like one because of codeshares with AS, will probably grow more, especially if DL continues to buddy up with AS.
Happy Flying
Swinster
Dec 31, 2010, 12:11 pm
#20
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SEA is definitely a focus city being built up into an LAX-style international gateway. If you're wondering if it's building up or winding down, you need only hang out at the checkin counter around 10AM to see it's on the uptick - the crowds are getting to be epic from all the new international flying Delta is doing.
Other evidence of Delta's investment in SEA is the Sky Club - construction has started on a new one that's twice the size. Rumor is we may also get a second daily instance at some point for either SEA-NRT or SEA-AMS... not sure how true that is but it is a rumor floating around.
While I think DL looks at Seattle primarily as an Asia gateway, don't underestimate the value of the AS symbiotic relationship. AS provides feed for the international flying and Delta's domestic hubs; DL provides feed to Washington regional destinations, California and Alaska. Clownfish and anemone.
Other evidence of Delta's investment in SEA is the Sky Club - construction has started on a new one that's twice the size. Rumor is we may also get a second daily instance at some point for either SEA-NRT or SEA-AMS... not sure how true that is but it is a rumor floating around.
While I think DL looks at Seattle primarily as an Asia gateway, don't underestimate the value of the AS symbiotic relationship. AS provides feed for the international flying and Delta's domestic hubs; DL provides feed to Washington regional destinations, California and Alaska. Clownfish and anemone.
Dec 31, 2010, 12:55 pm
#21
Join Date: May 2006
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One of the main purposes of MSP is to be able to connect many medium and somewhat small cities in the west to medium and somewhat small cities in the east.
If you want to fly GEG-ALB, MSO-RIC, SMF-BDL, BOI-ROC, YEG-BUF, BIL-TYS, GRR-PSC, RAP-CMH, BIS-IND, FAR-YUL, this is definitely the hub for you. MSP is one of the only hubs (if not the only) that can transport people between markets like this with just one stop.
It is obviously also good at serving routes like PDX-BOS, SFO-LGA, SEA-DCA, etc., but being centered in the country to get many small and medium size cities on the east coast, west coast, mountain west and midwest is the primary attraction of MSP.
If you want to fly GEG-ALB, MSO-RIC, SMF-BDL, BOI-ROC, YEG-BUF, BIL-TYS, GRR-PSC, RAP-CMH, BIS-IND, FAR-YUL, this is definitely the hub for you. MSP is one of the only hubs (if not the only) that can transport people between markets like this with just one stop.
It is obviously also good at serving routes like PDX-BOS, SFO-LGA, SEA-DCA, etc., but being centered in the country to get many small and medium size cities on the east coast, west coast, mountain west and midwest is the primary attraction of MSP.
Dec 31, 2010, 1:51 pm
#22
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Dec 31, 2010, 1:56 pm
#23
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How does DL grow at JFK as it is capacity controlled/limited?
Dec 31, 2010, 2:40 pm
#24
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Dec 31, 2010, 2:48 pm
#25
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OP's post was specifically about US hubs.
"In my process of getting Deltified, I'm trying to understand DL's approaches to its (numerous) USA hubs. What's your take / interpretation; where do I get it wrong?"
Emphasis mine. And, yes, NRT is a hub that came with the merger. It had been a NW hub for Asia.
AMS gets you the KLM base, so IMHO its a Delta hub thanks to the joint venture agreement and codeshares. (Again, this is an opinion/my perception and not necessarily the gospel according to Deltalina.)
"In my process of getting Deltified, I'm trying to understand DL's approaches to its (numerous) USA hubs. What's your take / interpretation; where do I get it wrong?"
Emphasis mine. And, yes, NRT is a hub that came with the merger. It had been a NW hub for Asia.
AMS gets you the KLM base, so IMHO its a Delta hub thanks to the joint venture agreement and codeshares. (Again, this is an opinion/my perception and not necessarily the gospel according to Deltalina.)
Dec 31, 2010, 2:53 pm
#26
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Building the new terminal and upgauging aircraft as necessary...still quite a few CRJs running around JFK that could easily be moved to LaGuardia in the event of the US slot swap getting done.
There might be some slots available at JFK during non-peak hours of the day as well.
There might be some slots available at JFK during non-peak hours of the day as well.
Dec 31, 2010, 3:10 pm
#27
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SLC - probably the only hub that cant have most of its feeder flights served from a different DL hub. Its mostly Skywest serving rinky-dink Western Cow-towns. (Disclamier - I live in a rinky-dink western cow-town). But no other hub could serve these markets effectively. Dehubbing SLC, would effectively give the entire inter-montain west market to United at DEN.
Perhaps DL should consider increasing capacity and lower fares at/thru SLC to attract more pax:
BOS-ATL, 11x daily
BOS-MSP, 6x daily
BOS-SLC, 2x daily
Last edited by Dieuwer; Dec 31, 2010 at 3:19 pm
Dec 31, 2010, 4:09 pm
#28
Join Date: Apr 2010
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Larger jets? Move the smaller aircraft to CVG, MEM, MSP and move the larger one the JFK. The fact that Delta is getting a new terminal at JFK would point to growth. The new terminal at JFK will hopefully allow Delta to increase demand at JFK and to manage that new demand effectively.
Dec 31, 2010, 4:36 pm
#29
Join Date: Apr 2010
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Considering that flights from the East Coast to rinky-dink Western Cow-towns via SLC are usually very expensive compared to UA/CO, it seems DL already has given up on the western market.
Perhaps DL should consider increasing capacity and lower fares at/thru SLC to attract more pax:
BOS-ATL, 11x daily
BOS-MSP, 6x daily
BOS-SLC, 2x daily
Perhaps DL should consider increasing capacity and lower fares at/thru SLC to attract more pax:
BOS-ATL, 11x daily
BOS-MSP, 6x daily
BOS-SLC, 2x daily
I sure we would all love to fly anywhere super cheap but a strategy of increasing capacity and lowering fares at SLC as you suggest doesnt sound sustainable for DL.
If BOS-SLC was super lucrative Im sure a LCC would have jumped on it already. This could happen since WN is at both airports already. Unfortunately WN doing BOS-SLC will not lower cow-town prices because WN wont fly to the cowtowns.
Happy Flying
Swinster
Dec 31, 2010, 4:50 pm
#30
Join Date: Feb 2008
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Delta offers customers more than 13,000 daily flights, with hubs in Amsterdam, Atlanta, Cincinnati, Detroit, Memphis, Minneapolis-St. Paul, New York-JFK, Paris-Charles de Gaulle, Salt Lake City and Tokyo-Narita.