DavidDTW

With WOW announcing new service out of Detroit starting next spring, I am reminded of how NW used to react to those things. No doubt there are some other old time NW elites that remember how the airline would double or triple service, slash prices, and pretty much put their competitor out of business on the route using their strongarm hub protection methods.

The title is a misnomer, as I would never even expect DL to do the same.

ETA: It was a great way to get flights and miles cheap though!!

readywhenyouare

Bastian is PMDL so I doubt there will be much of a reaction. Delta has always been used to competition. They had to split hubs with AA at DFW and FL at ATL. NWA never had to share a hub and as a result they lost their mind at the slightest hint of competition. For he sake of airfares at DTE I would think everyone would want WOW and any other new service to stick around.

KDCAflyer

Not true. DL used to go all out to defend CVG, especially in the 90s.

In this case, I don't expect a response. WOW isn't taking any customers that matter to DL.

quasihumanist

Maybe not this time, but as similar airlines come into the TATL market, I would expect DL to start offering Basic Economy on TATL flights.

hi55us

Basic Economy would need to have super aggressive pricing, DL is getting $1,200 for DTW-JFK-KEF in Main Cabin, Wow is nearly a quarter of that for their DTW-KEF flight pricing at $550/RT in their Economy "Plus" Product that includes all the amenities DL offers.

I really think DL is not concerned about these ULCCs, but they need to be prepared for the sleeping giant in the TATL corner - B6.

3Cforme

Sleeping giant? DL is the largest TATL U.S. carrier and B6 has zero TATL routes.

hi55us

But they're disrupted the LAX/SFO-JFK Premium markets and could do the same thing with TATL routes that are similar in length. I would absolutely fly B6 JFK/BOS-LHR in Mint for $1,200/RT.

Delta is currently getting $3,000/RT for an inferior 767 product JFK-LHR 3 months out.

readywhenyouare

An order for the A321LR would be all JetBlue needs to reach most EU markets from JFK and BOS. Norwegian will be coming to pick off the legacy hubs when they have no more brand new markets left.

yohanson

What does PMDL mean in this context?

readywhenyouare

Pre-merger Delta

yohanson

Ok, but Pre-merger Delta, he was also President and CEO at NWA. Don't you find that confusing?

readywhenyouare

He became CEO of NWA after the merger announcement and Doug Steenland left. Basically a CEO in name only. NWA had to have a CEO until the merger was complete. Before the merger announcement Bastian was Delta's CFO. He worked with Gerald Grinstein and Jim Whitehurst to save Delta during Ch 11.

KDCAflyer

B6's biggest obstacle is a lack of LHR slots. Nothing wrong with LGW, but they'd be at a significant competitive disadvantage. Even worse if they use LTN or STN.

Dawgfan6291

Uh, what? DL would react and has been reacting under Bastian plenty.
Having said what I said above, I don't see DTW-KEF in the cards. I would expect more expansion into auto market hubs (maybe try DUS in Air Berlin is a sh*t show now?) and DL/AF/KL/AZ/VS strong market, i.e. MAN.

But overall DL has noted the Trans-atlantic is a place that has too much capacity. IMO if DTW gets a new route in the future it will HKG coming back.
An airline that has literally no market presence in Europe that might start TATL service...... is a sleeping giant?
First DL has a product issue but a 321 without isle-access and basically the same type seat is some how "better"?

Second I'm sure people would love to take a 2 grand less flight in C. Of course these aren't the people DL/AA/BA/VS/UA etc. care about, especially in a market as premium and corporate heavy as JFK-LHR......


And of course this is all assuming B6 can magically find the LHR and JFK slots to offer frequency that is comparable to AA/BA, DL/VS and US much less pay for those slots. My money on any BOS/JFK-LON flying from B6 will be the same all LCCs have been doing, heading to the cheaper LGW.

readywhenyouare

The only example I can think of is when JetBlue first entered ATL and flew to the LA area. Delta offered a ton of frequent flyer miles to keep people off of B6. Nothing like NWA did. NWA got so mad at AA for starting LGA-MSP that they announced they were starting LGA-DFW. Of course the advance bookings were beyond awful and NWA canceled it before it even started. What retaliation has Delta done since Bastian took over?