MCO expansion?
 

Just noticed that AirTran has officially vacated Gates 90-99 in MCO to prepare for their merger with WN. Anyone know if Delta has any plans for further expanding service to/from MCO? I know MCO-DCA will be lost when the swap with US goes through, but with AF now flying to CDG plus some of the other newer flights (RDU and MIA come to mind), anyone know if more flights are in the works now that there are another 10 open gates? It would certainly bolster their competitiveness with WN now flying to ATL (and assuming they keep some of FL's direct flights from MCO to smaller airports).

Even if they don't plan to increase flight frequency or add other n/s flights, I would love to see them start using those gates. That area around gates 76 and 78 can be a total zoo.

DL has cut back MCO over the years, and while they may have good loads I doubt the yields are all that great. I suspect they won't add any meaningful capacity in this market.

IIRC, in the early-mid 1990s, much of the current terminal was in use by DL as a "focus city" or mini-hub. Then it became Delta Express, the pre-Song LCC within an airline. The space used by Airtran was made as DL vacated it.

I remember family members from NC loving the direct GSO-MCO flight, but I know the Delta Connection gates have been empty for a number of years. I guess I shouldn't get my hopes up for any new expansion...

Just because Gates 90-99 are vacant doesn't mean DL will be willing to pony up the extra $ to lease them. Count on them sitting empty for a while.

Those are original Delta gates. Walk down there and notice the gate counters and backdrops are Delta spec. They dropped the lease on the 90-wing dates during the bankruptcy and AirTran moved over, spending minimal $ to sticker their logo to the backdrop. Delta could use some more RON gates but the 90 wing is the most inconvenient for ground crews, equipment and maintenance because the former DL connection gates block access from the 70 wing to the 90 wing except a small cart road next to the pond. Makes more sense to use the 80 wing gates as DL currently does.

Bringing back one of my old threads, I notice in the January 2013 Sky magazine that Delta is now planning a BIG expansion out of MCO. I see the following new destinations:

HPN
BDL
ORF
RIC
PIT
CMH
IND
SDF
MKE
BHM
SAT
AUS
MCI
OMA

Delta's December 2012 PDF schedule claims that CMH, IND, and MCI have already started, but I don't think that is accurate. Looks like both CMH and IND begin as Saturday-only service on February 16th but only go through April 6th. I don't see any MCI flights loaded (but I just took a quick look). Either way, I am VERY interested for this rollout. I go to Omaha 2-3 times a month, so a direct flight will be MUCH appreciated.

Happy Friday!!

They're all Saturday-only, 1x/wk service for the Spring. Most are on CRJ-700/900s, PIT/MCI/IND/MKE are on mainline (A319 or MD-88).

Ah, but if they could only be more permanent....

Agreed. If they are only going to be around for a couple of months, I wonder why Delta even bothers to highlight them on the map. All it does it get people like me excited for no reason!

Makes the route map look more exciting. :p

Don't you know that you can be banned from FlyerTalk for 30 days if you admit that you fly anything less than the longest possible routings? ;) :D

I would just be happy if Delta would bring back and keep either MCO-MIA/FLL. That route seems to come and go every few years. I wouldn't mind having the direct flight to Key West back either.

Sorry, what I meant to say is that I've very excited for the direct (and I'm sure-to-be expensive) flight so as to provide added justification for my MCO-LGA-DTW-MSP-MEM-SLC-OMA routing...gotta build up those segments!!! :)

What is the deal with IND-RSW? I see it on the route map too.