History of Delta operations at DCA?

Old Mar 13, 2018, 9:13 pm
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Originally Posted by LBJ
NW used to operate DCA-IND/DSM/MKE/MSN/GRR/LAN in addition to the hubs. The current MSN flight may be a NW holdover. Here's a recent article on the DCA terminal A "banjo" that was built by NW and TWA in 1970. Still remember the pre-security NW WorldClub there.

https://ggwash.org/view/66256/buildi...tional-airport
Very good article. I never realized that DCA was planning to do some major work on Terminal A. It is truly an embarrassment to our nations capital and real improvements will be great for the airport, especially if its connected to the rest of the terminal post security.
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Old Mar 14, 2018, 8:18 am
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Originally Posted by MCO Flyer
Very good article. I never realized that DCA was planning to do some major work on Terminal A. It is truly an embarrassment to our nations capital and real improvements will be great for the airport, especially if its connected to the rest of the terminal post security.
A is not getting the major work, its B/C which is under construction until 2021. Last week they started work on the outside of arrivals level and now all ride share & shuttle bus operations are on the upper arrivals level creating very crowded conditions. Its going to be an annoying few years I think, but looking forward to the results. You can find all the milestones and renderings by googling DCA Project Journey if interested.
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Old Mar 14, 2018, 11:00 am
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Originally Posted by dc2005b
A is not getting the major work, its B/C which is under construction until 2021. Last week they started work on the outside of arrivals level and now all ride share & shuttle bus operations are on the upper arrivals level creating very crowded conditions. Its going to be an annoying few years I think, but looking forward to the results. You can find all the milestones and renderings by googling DCA Project Journey if interested.
This is correct for now. All of the major work that has just started is on Terminals B/C with lane closures and DL and AA having to move their continent check in areas off the metro bridge to the national hall. If you read the article however it states that MWAA is studying a plan to redo Terminal A with demolishing the current banjo gate area and build a new concourse.

Here is a picture and note the circle area:


Last edited by MCO Flyer; Mar 14, 2018 at 11:05 am
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Old Mar 14, 2018, 11:26 am
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DC is a big city for business travel. Moreover, *some* of the government contract fares are quite lucrative.
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Old Mar 14, 2018, 5:08 pm
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Originally Posted by lixiaojuventus
I am new to Delta, so did not have too much knowledge about Delta's history. Recently I fly out of DCA a lot, and noticed that Delta has quite a few flights to non-hub destinations from DCA, such as Omaha, Lexington, RDU, Madison. Can anyone tell me why these flights exist at all? I do not remember seeing so many spoke-to-spoke Delta flights in other airports.
I am taking a risk relying on my US geography, but I believe all those are US state capitals, which points to government contracts...
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Old Mar 14, 2018, 5:39 pm
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Originally Posted by MCO Flyer
I agree 100%. I think DL deserves a few more slots at DCA. I could see BOS and MCO could be added if additional slots are awarded and additionally frequency on additional routes. Remember that DL had a profitable focus city in DCA and they gave it up as the offer with US for LGA slots was a no brainer for DL. DL still very much cares about DCA and DL had a bunch of ads around DC (Metro, Union Station, Nats Stadium) recently and DL dosen't typically advertise heavily in non-hub or focus city markets.
If the slots are beyond-perimeter, AUS would be my candidate. I could also see cities like IND, BNA, and MSY in the mix.

Last edited by KDCAflyer; Mar 14, 2018 at 5:45 pm
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Old Mar 14, 2018, 5:59 pm
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Originally Posted by WWads


If the slots are beyond-perimeter, AUS would be my candidate. I could also see cities like IND, BNA, and MSY in the mix.
I think if its a beyond the perimeter slot that DL would go with SEA first. Remember that DL announced IAD-SEA a few months ago and I think if there was an opportunity to move it to DCA, DL would jump on it in a heartbeat.
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Old Mar 14, 2018, 7:52 pm
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Originally Posted by CPMaverick
I am taking a risk relying on my US geography, but I believe all those are US state capitals, which points to government contracts...
This is indeed a very good point. I can definitely see why they are profitable for Delta.
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Old Mar 14, 2018, 7:52 pm
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Originally Posted by CPMaverick
I am taking a risk relying on my US geography, but I believe all those are US state capitals, which points to government contracts...
Many Cabinet-level agencies have field offices in every state capital. Those folks have to occasionally come in to HQ, or HQ folks have to fly out to see them. Add in state gubernatorial and legislative delegations heading to DC to see their Congressional delegations, and congresspeople and their aides flying home, and you can do pretty well on an E175 or CR9.
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Old Mar 16, 2018, 6:15 pm
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Originally Posted by CPMaverick
I am taking a risk relying on my US geography, but I believe all those are US state capitals, which points to government contracts...
This.

Originally Posted by ElmhurstNick
Many Cabinet-level agencies have field offices in every state capital. Those folks have to occasionally come in to HQ, or HQ folks have to fly out to see them. Add in state gubernatorial and legislative delegations heading to DC to see their Congressional delegations, and congresspeople and their aides flying home, and you can do pretty well on an E175 or CR9.
And this.
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Old Mar 17, 2018, 7:29 am
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Pre-DL-acquisition of NW, DL and NW had quite a few flights out of DCA to places that were neither DL hubs nor NW hubs but were focus cities of sort for at least either DL or NW. So even when DCA served a flying population that was at least 20% smaller than it is today, there was still demand for point-to-point service from DCA in a way that worked out well enough for the airlines perhaps in conjunction with onward service from the secondary focus cities.
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Old Mar 17, 2018, 9:23 am
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Regarding the PMNW DCA-DTW and DCA-MSP flight schedules, how do the frequencies today compare to pre-merger frequencies on those two routes?

DCA-DTW today is generally 5-6 flights a day, except 4 on Saturdays. DCA-MSP is generally 4-6 flights a day, except 4 on Saturdays.

Was DCA-DTW ever operated like todays DCA-ATL near hourly schedule?
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Old Mar 17, 2018, 9:35 am
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Originally Posted by dtwtransport
Was DCA-DTW ever operated like todays DCA-ATL near hourly schedule?
No. I don't recall either DCA-DTW or DCA-MSP being near hourly. There were times in the day when the scheduled gap for DCA-DTW (or DCA-MSP for that matter) was substantially more than an hour even as it wasn't greater than 3-4 hours during the normal DCA-operating hours.

I probably still have some printed NW and DCA magazine flight schedules from the 1990s and early 2000s in storage somewhere but I'm unlikely to go looking for them.
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Old Mar 17, 2018, 9:43 am
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Originally Posted by dtwtransport
Regarding the PMNW DCA-DTW and DCA-MSP flight schedules, how do the frequencies today compare to pre-merger frequencies on those two routes?

DCA-DTW today is generally 5-6 flights a day, except 4 on Saturdays. DCA-MSP is generally 4-6 flights a day, except 4 on Saturdays.

Was DCA-DTW ever operated like today’s DCA-ATL near hourly schedule?
The Summer 2001 schedule shows 9 dailies to DTW and 8 to MSP. I doubt they ever ran more than that.
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Old Mar 17, 2018, 11:02 am
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Originally Posted by GUWonder
I probably still have some printed NW and DCA magazine flight schedules from the 1990s and early 2000s in storage somewhere but I'm unlikely to go looking for them.
This is kind of a weird question, but if you're not willing to go get them to look up this sort of stuff, what are you doing with them? It seems the only point of hanging on to this sort of stuff is to archive it as reference material, right?
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