DELTA Discontinue west coast shuttle service
Dec 19, 2017, 10:38 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: LAX
Posts: 556
DELTA Discontinue west coast shuttle service
Delta will be discontinuing their West Coast Shuttle flights as of January 4, 2018, as they rebrand them to regular domestic service, which essentially means no more complimentary drinks in the main cabin, among some other changes.
Wondering what’s changing? Below are current Delta West Coast Shuttle offerings:
Delta Shuttle Routes being discontinued as of 1/4/18:
Wondering what’s changing? Below are current Delta West Coast Shuttle offerings:
- Check-in as close as 30 minutes prior to departure
- Dedicated check-in counters exclusively for Shuttle customers
- Gates located near security
- Complimentary newspapers
- Complimentary onboard snacks provided by Luvo, a California-based lifestyle food brand, offering great-tasting, good-for-you food
- Complimentary beverages in-flight, including craft beer and wine in all classes of service
Delta Shuttle Routes being discontinued as of 1/4/18:
- Los Angeles and San Francisco
- Los Angeles and Seattle
- Seattle and San Francisco
Dec 19, 2017, 10:58 pm
#4
Original Poster
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: LAX
Posts: 556
Dec 19, 2017, 10:59 pm
#5
Join Date: Mar 2010
Programs: DL PM, Bonvoy Gold
Posts: 8,414
I'm pretty sure that nobody every choose to fly Delta because of the Luvo wrap. That being said, the SFO-LAX market is so saturated with basically every airline in the country that I appreciated DL trying to do something to stand out. I do think that if they could have had better on time performance that this would have been more successful.
Dec 19, 2017, 11:00 pm
#6
Join Date: Mar 2010
Programs: DL PM, Bonvoy Gold
Posts: 8,414
I also wonder if this means that they won't feel pressure to provide beverage service to the whole cabin any more due to the length of the flight on SFO-LAX. With the shuttle service they kind of had to do it unless there was bad turbulence.
Dec 20, 2017, 5:23 am
#8
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Dec 20, 2017, 7:30 am
#10
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already being discussed and confirmed here: Delta end the West Coast Shuttle?
Dec 20, 2017, 8:13 am
#11
Join Date: Dec 2016
Posts: 1,485
LAXSEA
DL 143
AS 131
VX 128
AA (Compass) 153
AA (mainline) 132
LAXSFO
DL main line 130
DL (skywest) 145
UA 151
AA (Compass) 163
VX 136
WN 123
SFOSEA
AS 159
VX 165
UA 194
DL (mainline) 163
DL (Skywest) 182
DL (Compass) 178
Now consider DL cost are 25% higher than AS and the fares they are getting on mainline is 0 to 10% higher than AS/VX . The fares they are getting on regional is the lowest amongst the legacies and lower than UA main line out of SFO. They are probably least profitable of all operators on these routes.
Dec 20, 2017, 8:15 am
#12
Join Date: Mar 2015
Programs: DL-PM
Posts: 266
I'm not sure, but I wouldn't be surprised if DL brought this back in a few years time... Several of the service points that Delta is offering on these Shuttle routes will be unavailable due to operational constraints during the LAX terminal renovations (namely closer gates and possibly check-in). Additionally, the reduction in frequency is certainly because of the impending renovations the prospect of providing the onboard service that they were advertising is much more difficult on the 717s and 738s specifically for LAX-SFO.
Dec 20, 2017, 9:06 am
#13
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I will repeat myself: Adding capacity is not a sign of losing. Switching capacity to lower CASM aircraft (see Investor Day slide 41) is not losing. It's employing a strategy DL has been using since 2009.
If you want to do a stage-length-adjusted, aircraft-adjusted CASM vs. fare comparison for Delta & Delta Connection's ~6,000 daily flights and can show these 60 flights are among Delta's weakest xxx, go for it.
If you want to do a stage-length-adjusted, aircraft-adjusted CASM vs. fare comparison for Delta & Delta Connection's ~6,000 daily flights and can show these 60 flights are among Delta's weakest xxx, go for it.
Dec 20, 2017, 9:07 am
#14
Join Date: Jan 2000
Location: Canada
Programs: AS, DL, UA, Hyatt, SPG
Posts: 2,574
I have flown "Shuttle" LAX-SEA or vice versa a few times lately and I thought it had already been discontinued to be honest. There was absolutely zero reference to the flight being Delta Shuttle at all both out of SEA and out of LAX and they didn't go from "dedicated gates" or have any distinguishment from any other domestic flight. That said, I was either in paid F or my upgrade cleared into F on all flights, so I don't know if comp drinks and luvo wraps were being offered in the main cabin.
I thought the concept was good, but as others have mentioned, a lot of gate issues in LAX and makes sense to cut frequency but upgauge capacity.
I thought the concept was good, but as others have mentioned, a lot of gate issues in LAX and makes sense to cut frequency but upgauge capacity.
Dec 20, 2017, 9:15 am
#15
Join Date: Mar 2010
Programs: DL PM, Bonvoy Gold
Posts: 8,414
Reduced frequency is a downgrade for LAX-SFO even if they go back to using mainline a/c. Remember that this route was all 717 for a while as a shuttle route. One of the reasons high frequency is important is for the ability to fly connecting flights without long layovers. Being able to not spend too much time in LAX or SEA helps makes being an SFO based DL flyer doable.