KDCAflyer

traconbeac

So excited about these developments, having moved here ~3 yrs ago. In that time DL has gone from only the major hubs, to now with the CVG readd, serving every domestic hub and focus city (IND upthread aside which isn't formally acknowledged in route maps, etc). Added RDU, BOS, SEA, and CVG. MEX if you count AM. Event-specific service to AMS and LAS.

I know most of the gate agents by name at this point flying week-in, week-out, and they're awesome. One has been there for 20+ years and knows the former station manager, clued me into the CVG add before it happened, and hinted that PDX was highly likely. SFO is under consideration for the premium tech/tech connection, but I feel like that route is covered 5x over, if not more.

I also heard they'll get 5 gates dedicated of the 9 in the expansion, and maybe a shared one with CBP for int'l arrivals. Right now they're sharing 3A (and 3?) with Frontier which crams 31 flight destinations into those gates, and then I believe 2 with BA for the daily evening to LHR. Exclusive use of 4, 5, and 6. I would love to know if someone could tabulate frequency and from there could extrapolate how much more frequency/routes could be served daily with that additional space.

Although I would LOVE a one stop TPAC connection, which would have to be at ICN at this point, I just don't see sufficient demand, and also no 787, so they wouldn't have the right planes, it's juuuust out of range for the 767. Womp womp. Same thing I believe has been discussed for TATL, but ideally it'd be KL/AF to AMS/CDG (previous thread centered on AF+CDG being a better bet), KE to ICN, both on 787s.

As much as I'd love the intra-regional flights to happen, I just don't know if DL can spin up sufficient nearby demand, esp. with SW preeminence in the market. I would love service to MSY, LIT, HOU/IAH, DAL/DFW, MCI, OKC, DEN (very selfishly), ABQ, PHX, ELP going counter-clockwise. These are all flights I currently take SW on out of necessity because all of Delta's hubs are absurdly out of the way.

scubadu

I think that is very, very unlikely at least not for a long, long time. But I seriously doubt AUS becomes HUB.

Regards

AUSINSIGHT

Completely crazy interesting thought.... what if they simply added Via Air as a regional out of Austin and took all of those routes over / added to them to get the necessary frequency? They'd have to run a shuttle to the south terminal OR build out a new satellite terminal, which is a VERY interesting idea.

traconbeac

Is there any precedent for this? I'm guessing it wouldn't be ViaAir dba as Delta Connection, they'd maintain their own brand, but it'd be something like earning/partnership on Hawaiian but only on the intra-island flights Delta absolutely doesn't serve?

ViaAir serves: AMA, BTR, LIT, OKC, SFB, TUS, TUL, seasonally BKG and HDN. So it'd definitely be a good number of those intra-regional markets I mentioned.

Delta certainly isn't a stranger to airport terminal shuttles...

Bordering on impossible but thought experiments are fun.

MIDWESTERNFLYER

There is clearly demand considering each of those carriers announced their IND-AUS flights in the past year. O&D between IND and AUS literally doubled from 2016-2017, and by now the O&D should be around 150-200 PDEW so I wouldn't be worried if there is a market for daily service on this route.

ProfRB

I'd love to see a flight from AUS to the Texas Valley. The Valley is significantly underserved, particularly in proportion to its population.

apodo77

Traffic between SAT and AUS is not so great and I-35 sucks to put it mildly. Unless some new route has popped up I am not aware of.

Even if you're in Universal City it's about 70 miles and 75 minutes to AUS. I couldn't imagine wanting to fly Delta to get targeted promos (are they even worth the headache) when a perfectly fine airport is 20 minutes away. To each their own of course.

TakeMeToParis

I always fly Delta out of AUS. I avoid SWA at all costs. Just wish Delta would have international flights from AUS and not have to go to Atlanta or Detroit first. I want AUS-CDG, I know I'm going to be waiting a long time and most likely will never happen. I'm thrilled about Delta Sky Club opening in 2019!

KDCAflyer

ATOBTTR

Everything is relative. Traffic sucks so much here in Seattle that what you describe as "sucks" may not be bad to me at all. And while I lived in DAY, I frequently flew out of CMH and CVG (and getting down I-75 to CVG could be a giant bag of "suck" at times), so it's not something I'm not used to.

And of course it will depend on the promo too. Will I drive to AUS for 500 bonus miles? Probably not. Would I consider it if it was a double-MQM promo like SEA had. More likely to say "yes" to that. Of course there's a lot of "what if's" that could be entertained here and we don't even know if there will be any promos at all.

Duke787

Agreed - I think it's almost a given with a 763/764 if the focus city takes off. Or alternatively an AF/KLM 787.

flyerCO

If in UC can take loop 1604 to I10 and head East to Toll 130. 75mph on I10 and then 85mph and normally empty between Seguin and AUS airport on Toll 130. Unless you live North of New Braunfels Toll 130 is a God send for getting to or around Austin. It joins into I35 North of Austin in Georgetown.

ElmhurstNick

I fly to Austin monthly for a few days at a time for work, and a focus city out of AUS would be fantastic. AUS-CVG-LGA and AUS-BNA-DCA as one-stops to skirt the perimeters have virtually no extra mileage, and you could do them with the 717 and focus on the thru traffic with very tight turns. AUS-IND-LGA and AUS-RDU-DCA as thru trips add in a little more distance, but could still work with CR9 and suddenly you have 4x/day 1-stops to both LGA and DCA.

Add in a second weekday frequency to BOS and SEA, and add 4-5 more business cities key to Austin corporate accounts, serve LAS/ORD/MCO weekdays only when there are important conventions.

And that doesn't even start to do battle with Southwest on Texas cities for lobbyists and the like. HOU/DFW may be too tough to crack, but some of the other Texas cities at 350+ miles may be worth it.

rwoman

A pipe dream, but I'd love to see a LHR-AUS flight on VS or DL to compete with the direct BA flight.