What's new

Charlotte to Salt Lake City

no one should doubt that DL and US are competitors.... as the hand-holding for the past two years necessary to get the slot deal approved winds down, perhaps we'll see more of this kind of thing.
.
This flight is primarily a direct operating cost based flight (the costs are calculated based on the plane not flying at all and thus costs are generally allocated solely on the basis of direct costs such as crew, fuel etc but without overhead).... this type of DOC schedule is not as favorable for ski destinations where the primary desire is to arrive early in the day.
.
US also just announced Saturday only LGA-PHX service which is permissible since the LGA perimeter rule does not apply on Saturday.

Soon, alot of DAL flights in and out of ATL will be at "cost" with the flying cowboys(SWA) arriving in Februrary 2012...that planning department will be very busy putting on new flights with cut fares constantly beginning February. Let the domestic battle begin. DAL been flooding the ATL market and signage on the airport about DAL being the hometown airline for seventy years. They know "they" are coming!! 😛 😀 😀
 
Soon, alot of DAL flights in and out of ATL will be at "cost" with the flying cowboys(SWA) arriving in Februrary 2012...that planning department will be very busy putting on new flights with cut fares constantly beginning February. Let the domestic battle begin. DAL been flooding the ATL market and signage on the airport about DAL being the hometown airline for seventy years. They know "they" are coming!! 😛 😀 😀

And any minute now WorldTraveler will give the speech on how swa is beneath DL
 
And any minute now WorldTraveler will give the speech on how swa is beneath DL

I fully expect Mr. DAL, I mean WT to have a corporate response. He's gathering data now. Expect the "DAL is best" rebutal any moment now!!! Thats ok, everyone has to love something!! His is DAL for some reason!! DAL walks on water in ATL...and they will tell you that if you forget. Fares out of ATL will be $39 bucks soon anywhere in the USA. This is going to be fun to watch!! They are in love with their B747s, but they better watch those pesky little B737s painted blue with the "Bags Fly Free Here" sticker on the side will be nipping at the "bottom line" soon!! Sorry WT...it's reality!!
 
It will be very interesting to watch and see if DL will still charge for bags after SWA gets into ATL. To me this might be a game changer for the whole industry including US Airways. The bag fee only works if all the legacy airlines hold to it, if one has to let go of the rope the rest will likely have no choice but to follow. I know US Airways will be biting its nails hoping the bag fee stays.
 
There is a fairly long running thread on the DL forum about how much some people expected WN to make a big splash in ATL that hasn't quite materialized at this point. Right now, WN is more worried about watching its multi-billion dollar investment in FL go down the toilet as a result of labor woes (like this has never been a problem for other airilnes in this industry...). WN also has its hands full trying to kill off FL in DEN where WN's average fares are well below what they are in more stable markets such as SLC and ORD to the same destinations, even on a mileage adjusted basis.
.
The simple fact is that DL has decided what markets it intends to defend against anyone and they have been able to do that quite successfully in the 30+ years of deregulation.
.
DL closed DFW and used those resources to build up NYC; current cuts to MEM and CVG will provide even more resources for DL to grow NYC, a market in which DL is very close to growing to have a larger local revenue base than ATL.
.
For whatever reason, DL decided they wanted to add PHL-LAX, US thought they would add CLT-SLC, DL has announced the same thing with a schedule more conducive to business passengers - and the competitive juices that used to flow freely between DL and US are flowing quite freely again.
.
We'll see how it all works out.
.
DL has a pretty good track record at defending its turf and in winning competitive battles with US; you need only look at the number of east coast markets where US was once much stronger and see where DL and US are in relation to each other now.
.
The simple fact is that DL is a highly competitive airline and has grown immensely because of its willingness and ability to go after other carriers' core markets. That reality is well known in the boardrooms and executive offices of airlines throughout the industry, including in Tempe, which is probably why they tried to buy out DL not that long ago.
.
Whether I or anyone else points out that reality doesn't change the fact that it is what it is.
 
Delta, Schmelta! Screw Delta! If I wanted to read a DL thread I'd be on their board. I live in a DL hub now and I can sum up my opinion in one word! BLEECH!
 
uh.. the thread is about CLT-SLC. We had people pontificating about how well US would do on the route until I just slipped in a one sentence response that DL had added its own service.
.
The next two replies to the thread acknowledged what everyone on here and in the industry knows which is that DL fiercely protects its own turf and also has managed to go after a whole lot of prime markets from other carriers, including US - for which I could post pages and pages of markets where DL has managed to overtake US on the east coast as the largest market.
Meanwhile we have scores of pages on this forum about markets where US has walked away and allowed competitors to invade their markets punctuated by one of US' few successes in defending its own markets which has come recently with WN's pulldown in PHL.
.
Within that context, if you would like to continue the conversation about CLT-SLC, be my guest.
.
The rest of us will watch how this and other competitive battles shape up particularly in light of the "back to normal" approach to competition between DL and US now that the slot swap is all but completed.
 

Latest posts

Back
Top