Delta Air Lines has plans to dominate Austin as Southwest struggles and after American Airlines pulled back its own expansion there. I believe I was first to reveal Delta’s plan to make Austin a focus city seven years ago. They’re clearly playing the long game, as they jostle with Southwest for the most gates as part of Austin’s new concourse expansion and new lease and use agreement.
They’re talking about 150 daily flights, 15 gates, two lounges and 10x’ing their staff in the Central Texas city. And according to aviation watchdog, Delta is preparing to announce a route that will “emotionally bruise” American Airlines.
Jon doesn’t say the route, but he says the route.
- He adds the tweet to this thread on Delta’s expansion in Austin (where American drew down its focus city before Delta rushed in).
- He notes that the flight would be related to Delta stealing the LATAM partnership from American in fall 2019, a move that came closest to costing former American CEO Doug Parker his job.
Delta has a plan to expand to 29 destinations from Austin. This would be number 30.
Austin – Miami would add a spoke to Delta’s newest focus city; connect two non-hub cities where Delta has a strong presence; support their joint venture with LATAM; and offer an alternative to American in an American Airlines hub.
The route is currently served by,
- American (3 peak daily flights)
- Southwest (5 times weekly)
- Frontier (3 times weekly)
An Austin – Miami route would also help establish Delta in the market before Southwest grows, which is important for its development of Austin as Southwest considers building up even larger than Delta’s plan – as the two jockey to be the dominant carrier of Austin in the future and anchor tenants for the airport’s new use and lease agreement.
Credits: Delta
