I don't see the KOA tag coming back, but I keep expecting DL to add SEA-OGG with a 752
nothing. SEA/LAX growth is growth.

The plan for SLC right now it grow a little bit and become an all F class hub(note, some 50(and EM2) seat flying will likely still be done by SkyWest at-risk)
IIRC the plan is for that shift to happen by summer 2017.

Seattle and Los Angeles can't replicate the flows of SLC. Just look at UALs network, DEN/SFO/LAX. Delta will have a network like that, SLC/LAX/SEA

it would be nice to see a few more flights out of SLC. They have cut back service so much that it has started to become hard to get some of the routings and times that I need. If Delta pulled out of SLC I would end up going to united which would add a hop to almost all my current flights. :/

No. Good luck to Delta. AS is already established there as a hub. So not much more in extra costs for them. Whereas DL has to invest a lot of money there. Which means a lot more money to lose. And a lot of this new flying seems to be on the regional side. So where are all of these pilots coming from? Because the last time I checked, there was a shortage of pilots at the regionals, with not that many "maidens-in-waiting". Moreover, new pilot work rules mean the current regional pilots will be spending less time in the cockpit, not more. So does that mean DL will be pulling regional flying from other hubs? And if so, where?

I went to book with Delta yesterday from LAX to SEA to take advantage of the double miles promotion and the bag fee waiver (I'm a Delta Amex cardholder). They're not competing with Alaska on price. The best I could do was a $10 higher fare than Alaska at worse times with far fewer options, and a connection in Salt Lake City on the way back.

Lots of noise over this new competition, but I would have laughed and gone over to Alaska to book if I didn't need to both check a bag, and get over a threshold in my SkyMiles account.

...so one set of flights on one set of dates...and one anecdotal observation....and DL's buildup is dead :rolleyes:

Not one set of flights on one set of dates, I'm bouncing up and down the west coast quite a bit this summer... fare-wise, I could only make it work on Delta once. Fortunately, that is the one flight where I need to check a bag, and I only need ~4,000 miles to get over the SkyMiles hump (which I'll get from the double miles promotion).

I am sure AS is sorry to lose your "eliteness" unwilling to pay the $25 bag fee.

Delta cut a deal with its mainline pilots to raise salaries 20%. In exchange the pilots traded off scope, so Delta could could source more of its flying to CR-9s.

Delta's wholly-owned regional, Pinnacle or Endeavor or whatever it's called went into bankruptcy and whacked compensation purportedly around 25%. It was not all stick as Delta held out the CR-9 flying as a carrot. So that's how that worked.

Cut to today and Delta has the CR-9s as a competitive tool to bring into play.

Didn't you have to book those tickets before January 1st to receive double miles?

Huh? I don't think MSFT has much use for seasonal once weekly service to Cabo.

The lower pay does not have to do with adequate pilot staffing. If anything, it will make it harder to recruit new regional pilots with the lower wages. So where does DL get the staffing to fly all these new routes? SLC? MSP? It's going to have to come from somewhere else.

9E is going to have 100+ CRJs to be replaced by 40 CR9s.

They aren't looking for pilots.


It might be a problem later, much later...but not now.

Which means there is going to be a lot of flight cuts somewhere else in the system. Or are those 100 CR2s currently mothballed? If you are going from a fleet of 100 CR2s to 40 CR9s, and adding a bunch of new flights into/out of SEA with many of those CR9s, then something has to be cut where those CR2s are currently flying.

I had similar problem looking for SEA-SFO. DL isn't operating any of its own direct flights on this route yet, and the connection through SLC is a pain and more expensive. Ended up booking on AS so no double MQM :(

Mainline is adding the 717 to replace E75/E70/CR7/CR9 flying that will then be used to replace CRJ/ERJ flying.


Example ATL-GNV is going from 7x CRJ to 4x CR9 1x 717. Which is a small bump in capacity.


and before you say, mainline darn sure isn't having a problem finding employees.

You just missed it too then, flights start 3/28. Sorry to hear that.