sh9168

I was just thinking about it. Who would take over Hartsfield Airport as their hub if Delta went out of business? for that matter, what about their routes?Any guesses?

JRF

Yep, one or several new airlines that would start up and take over many of the DL routes, as well as existing carriers that would buy some of the DL routes.

Berto

I would guess that we would see AirTran increase operations, and maybe get the whole Concourse C, but that would still leave lots of unused space. Other than that I havent got a clue.

Robert Leach

First of all, I think you would see all the carriers there, to the extent possible, increase the numbers of flights to their hubs and when possible upgrade the equipment size used. This would mean, hopefully, AA 757/767 flights to DFW and ORD, UA widebodies to ORD, CO 764s to IAH/EWR, etc.

Secondly, one would certainly think that AirTran would expand as rapidly as possible. However, it's just not that easy to ramp up quickly given the hiring and training requirements.

Thirdly, you never know . . . with Delta gone and congestion reduced, you just might see WN make an appearance.

Finally, I would think and hope that one or two of the other legacy carriers would increase the Atlanta presence. I'm biased, but I think one prime candidate would be AA. AA instituted the point-to-point ATL-LGA service in June, and I have been told that nonstop ATL-LAX service is a very real possibility in 2006. So, AA has already stepped out of the hub-and-spoke mode to compete to a very limited extent in Atlanta. It wouldn't be out of the question to see more AA service, but it is constrained by the gate situation currently.

jerry crump

Much of the traffic would siply dissapear. Non-stop flights from hubs like MEM, DTW, CLT, ORD, DFW etc... would be picked up by that hubs carrier. Lots of cities that have non-stop service from ATL would not be picked up by anyone. If Southwest Airlines announces service to ATL that may mean they are expecting the death of DL much like their move in behind US Air. STL would be a good example of how much of the traffic just dried up eventually.

rcdlgold

Despite if DL goes out or stays.............

I had heard a rumor some time ago that Emirates (EK) wanted to add international flights in and out of ATL using A340-500's and maybe A380's. They wanted to use CO to feed their flights into JFK and use DL to feed flights into ATL.

Anyone know anything about this.

On another note, if Virgin America gets off the ground and becomes popular, ATL might be a good south east hub for them to pick up.

heckler

ATL would make an interesting international hub, as it fills a niche between Miami and Washington DC areas on the east coast - while DL does do alot of international flights from ATL, there isn't much diversification of airlines doing routes directly out of ATL.

I think VS, CX, KE, SAS, etc would have a new an exciting place to put on there destination lists - and the money and people are there to support it.

NHFL9

Doesn't KE already serve ATL with a non-stop to ICN?

USCGamecock

It would be a sad, sad day if that happens. I don't know what the answers are, but I do know that DL needs to get some type of creative solution going before it is too late.

rcdlgold

Yes but with limited service.......only two or three times a week............or something like that.

I agree that ATL is undervalued as an international hub. It's location along the middle of the eastern US would be great on a logistical side.

I think maybe DL is realizing this thus is adding more international flights out of ATL instead of all out of JFK.

BamaVol

You could raise a lot of chickens in ATL if the place wasn't so busy and full of people.

indufan

I think Delta is being as creative as they can be.

JT8D-217

It just might take some time for another airline to soak up all of the DL gates at ATL.
Local travelers will remember that, for a good period of time following the Eastern liquidation, the north end of Concourse B sat blocked off and dark and the train didn't even stop at Concourse C.

The Mileage Millionaire

Delta is not going anywwhere, so this is really irrelevant.

sh9168

While this is just a hypathetical question, it's not irrelivent as is is quite posdsibly for the pilots to put Delta out of business if they strike.