FlyPNS1 From United States of America, joined Nov 1999, 6089 posts, RR: 25 Posted (10 years 8 months 2 weeks 3 days 9 hours ago) and read 1311 times:
It appears that DL has decided that it wants to dominate HSV.
In June, DL launched n/s HSV-DFW with CRJ's 3x daily.
On Nov. 1, DL will launch HSV-DCA with CRJ's 2x daily.
On Dec. 16, DL will launch HSV-MCO with CRJ's 2x daily.
This is in addition to DL's existing RJ service to CVG and mainline/RJ service to ATL.
HSVXJ From United States of America, joined Sep 2001, 228 posts, RR: 2 Reply 2, posted (10 years 8 months 2 weeks 1 day 13 hours ago) and read 1097 times:
This is both good and bad news for Huntsville.
We and the guys at Delta have the sneaking suspicion that all of this is in preparation for ending Delta's mainline service into Huntsville.
Washington and Orlando are Huntsville's number one and number two O&D destinations, respectively. By adding point to point service on these routes, they're taking people off of their Atlanta flights, which are normally quite full. The decrease in passengers make regional flights more plausible. Delta mainline pulls out, ASA's cheaper workforce comes in, Delta saves money, and all of their frequent flyers can no longer upgrade out of here (which I don't think will be a big deal. It's only a 20 minute flight.)
So, good news for travelers, bad news for the Delta guys here.
USAirways went through the same thing last year. But, hey, they weren't the only ones.
I wouldn't be surprised to see La Guardia (HSV's sixth most popular destination) sometime in the future.
chRis
Nature forms us for ourselves, not for others; to be, not to seem.
FlyPNS1 From United States of America, joined Nov 1999, 6089 posts, RR: 25 Reply 3, posted (10 years 8 months 2 weeks 1 day 11 hours ago) and read 1071 times:
HSVXJ,
I think you are right regarding mainline in HSV. Within the next year or two, I would expect DL to pull out the remaining mainline flights. The only thing that is likely holding them back is that DL Connection doesn't have enough 70 seaters to fill in. MGM and AGS have gone through a similar transition.
If DL pulls out mainline, how many airlines will still have mainline service at HSV? AA has a few mainlines to DFW, but I have a feeling those won't be around much longer.
Bhmal From United States of America, joined Feb 2000, 140 posts, RR: 4 Reply 4, posted (10 years 8 months 2 weeks 1 day 7 hours ago) and read 1040 times:
I'm wondering what's going to happen to HSV and BHM with AA mainline since they are pulling their Fokker's over the next couple of years. I'm afraid that both cities may be American Eagle before it's over with. FlyPNS1, I think you are correct in stating that if DL does pull mainline, AA will be the only mainline left. I remember back in the early nineties, HSV had mainline NW, AA, DL, US and UA. The RJ craze is sad to see for all us aviation nuts. But it's definitely more economical and in some ways it's good because you tend to get nonstops to destinations you normally wouldn't. CO had mainline to EWR from BHM a few years back that went RJ. They only had it though because the Birmingham chamber pushed it so hard.
HSVXJ From United States of America, joined Sep 2001, 228 posts, RR: 2 Reply 5, posted (10 years 8 months 2 weeks 21 hours ago) and read 935 times:
Yes, without Delta mainline, American will be the only one offering mainline service. Although Mesaba, with our Avros, still provides mainline type service.
American is really strong out of here. In fact, for most of the summer, they were running three MD80s into HSV with one F100. Load factors are high for AA, as well as the yields. As the AA district manager once said, "Huntsville is a cash cow for AA." AAdvantage frequent flyers wouldn't be so forgiving if these flights we're downgraded to regional jets; Dallas is a much longer haul than Atlanta. These folks want their upgrades.
Ground employees here are not AA employees. The work is contracted out to ATS, and those poor guys make less than we do. So labor costs are not an issue out here. They really have no reason to pull mainline service, but stranger things have happened.
Continental was at one time blabbing about running a 737 on their Houston route out of Huntsville. This dosen't seem to be the case. In fact, they're losing a flight for the end of the year. Apparently, American is killing them in the westbound routes.
chRis
Nature forms us for ourselves, not for others; to be, not to seem.
Srbmod From United States of America, joined Mar 2001, 16896 posts, RR: 51 Reply 6, posted (10 years 8 months 2 weeks 7 hours ago) and read 863 times:
I forsee Delta eventually replacing most mainline flights of an hour or less to/from ATL with Delta Connection service. In the last two years, MGM and AGS went from a mix of mainline and Delta Connection flights to all Delta Connection, and Monroe, LA went to Delta Connection service as well.. I see CAE, TLH, GSP and BHM as the next cities to fall as well. With AirTran JetConnect taking over AirTran's ATL-SAV route in November, I would be surprised if Delta does the same exact thing on that route as well. As ASA and Comair get more CRJ-700s, look to see more mainline routes to be replaced with those aircraft.
FlyPNS1 From United States of America, joined Nov 1999, 6089 posts, RR: 25 Reply 7, posted (10 years 8 months 2 weeks 6 hours ago) and read 838 times:
I agree with you Srbmod, except in the cases of BHM and SAV. Right now, both of those cities see multiple 757s....SAV has 8 757's daily. These markets would lose massive amounts of capacity if replaced by RJ's replaced 757's (unless you increased frequency but there's not that much room in ATL).
The prime reason Airtran is downgrading SAV is because AAI was doing very poorly in the market with only 2x daily 717 service. DL continues to dominate on the route. DL isn't likely to cut as much capacity on routes where they compete with Airtran.
So far, DL hasn't used the CRJ700's to replace mainline. Rather, they are replacing 50 seat RJ routes that are overflowing. DL Connection has so many routes where the 50 seaters are packed that getting the 70 seaters on those routes is more important.
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