resolute

Why? DL has MANY stations in the Southeast USA where you backtrack to/from ATL that I hardly see this mattering. Why would someone from the east care that much about flying to SLC and then "back" to CO. They do it all the time in the SE. Flying to ATL from many directions over their final destination and then back to it. Hub and spoke flying has multiple successful examples of this phenomenon...

UAPremierGuy

DL is totally screwing up by not serving ASE right now. AA and UA are absolutely crushing it, and have been since the summer serving ASE.

indufan

It isn't even a phenomenon. Every airline, every hub. Having said that, nothing new with Detla on ASE. They have made a business decision. It isn't like it has flown under the proverbial radar and they have just missed it. They have calculated it isn't worth it....for really whatever reasons. My one trip to ASE was on UA (probably Great Lakes, really) and that was years ago and because DL didn't fly there at the time.

ATLflyer2017

Airlines aren't in the business of flying routes that cause them to lose money. When Delta applied to drop ASE, they probably didn't anticipate those kinds of destinations to do so well. Maybe they are regretting their decisions but it would be impossible to predict what the market for ski destinations would be like.
Every airline has weakness in their network. Delta has always been smaller in SLC than United is in DEN, but it isn't exactly an apples to apples comparison.

MSPeconomist

MSP had an impressive collection of private jets during the superbowl. Many were being parked at nearby smaller airports, often after dropping passengers off at MSP or other closer airports. Supposedly St Cloud airport (I won't make people look up the code) was an interesting parking lot for planes.

BTW, let's not forget that dropping service from smaller airports is related to DL's elimination of CRJ-200s as well as COVID-19.

wakesetter93

I wish everyone else would follow suit!

TrojanTraveler

I think this is a more likely explanation.

MSPeconomist

It's in progress, not completely done.

emma dog

IMHO, it comes down to equipment. ASE's layout prevents larger (A220 or greater) from landing and taxing there. DL's choices for smaller planes don't make it economical for the routes they would be flying.

indufan

There are a few places that I find Delta "weak" domestically. And those mountain towns in Colorado are some of them. I used to frequent Durango quite a bit. Wyoming is pretty weak (but why wouldn't it be) and south and west Texas. Well, northern Maine right now since I just got back from there and BGR service is on hiatus.

indufan

If I recall correctly, pilots need some sort of special endorsement to fly to ASE as well. I am sure someone will correct me on that or make it clearer with the right terms and conditions.

wakesetter93

DL lost a lot of their connectivity in south/west texas when they shut down their DFW hub. Each of the big 3 has an area where they're lacking but given DL's SLC hub I'm surprised that they aren't stronger in some of the smaller Colorado towns.

hi55us

With Delta building up their Seattle hub, you would think the SLC hub would be dropping some of the small markets in Washington, Oregon and Idaho and instead focus on markets like ASE.

Delta flies SLC-MFR/EUG/RDM/PSC/LWS/SUN/TWF/PIH/IDA that could all be served through Seattle instead. Then again having a choice of SLC or SEA from a market like EUG or RDM might give them an edge over Alaska, at the expense of using the same aircraft on SLC-ASE.

indufan

My understanding is that Delta's growth at SEA is limited by available space and if that space were available they would be using it for much larger markets.I have been told they want to mirror the routes offered from LAX back to the east.

No doubt the DFW closure changed a lot of that but they did hold onto MFE, AMA, and LBB for a while afterward. They haven't served MAF in my memory. I have asked here before what they should do about those markets and the consensus was to cede the market to AA. Having said that, someone is going to hub AUS sooner or later and it wouldn't surprise me if it is DL. As to Colorado, I have been to most of those towns in CO. Yes, they are big ski destinations and generally attractive places to go but they aren't very big. I went to Steamboat on the very first day of the non-seasonal service and I still haven't been to HDN and a load of domestic airports (150+) is my thing.

DLASflyer

The only ASE-capable plane in Delta's fleet is the CRJ-700, which is gone from the the SLC hub operation. The E175 is what killed ASE Delta service.