Delta Air Lines Adds Dallas-Love Field Memphis

[FA Mikey]

Delta adds service to the metroplex, just not DFW.




Delta Air Lines Adds Dallas-Love Field to Global Network


-- Delta Air Lines is expanding its global network to offer customers nonstop flights to Dallas' Love Field Airport. Effective July 6, 2009, Delta will offer three new daily round-trip flights between its Memphis, Tenn. hub and Dallas' downtown airport, connecting in-town Dallas customers to the world's largest airline network.

Flight** Departs Arrives Effective

NW 2672 Love Field at 6 a.m. Memphis at 7:40 a.m. July 7, 2009
NW 2674 Love Field at 11:25 a.m. Memphis at 1:05 p.m. July 6, 2009
NW 2676 Love Field at 4:15 p.m. Memphis at 5:55 p.m. July 6, 2009
NW 2673 Memphis at 9:15 a.m. Love Field at 11 a.m. July 6, 2009
NW 2675 Memphis at 2 p.m. Love Field at 3:45 p.m. July 6, 2009
NW 2677 Memphis at 7:51 p.m. Love Field at 9:36 p.m. July 6, 2009

full story here

 

[Kev3188]

I might be off the mark, but I just don't see this as quite the "shot across the bow" that others do. I'm looking at it as trying to retain the traffic lost from CO exiting Skyteam (not just at DAL, but other TX cities as well). I realize the significance of Love Field, but 3 CRJ's a day just doesn't seem like too big of deal...

 

[Dignity]

but 3 CRJ's a day just doesn't seem like too big of deal...

probably what most people were thinking when the first little airplane with a jet engine showed up for the first time...(not a real big deal..)

but!

it probably is a big deal to the employees who work on the CRJ!

to me, it seems like the two largest hubs are going to have auxiliary hubs relatively close by, sort of like the Earth's moon..(for significant regional operations)...

ATL moon will be MEM and DTW moon will be CVG..

keeping in mind all hubs of course being important.. just strategically different... making up one big 'happy family' in the DAL universe.....

 

[Kev3188]

probably what most people were thinking when the first little airplane with a jet engine showed up for the first time...(not a real big deal..)

but!

it probably is a big deal to the employees who work on the CRJ!

I suppose from a "adding lines of flying" perspective, you're right. I was looking at it from a network planning view.

to me, it seems like the two largest hubs are going to have auxiliary hubs relatively close by, sort of like the Earth's moon..(for significant regional operations)...

ATL moon will be MEM and DTW moon will be CVG..

Interesting theory. I know that they've mentioned any "new" flying in the south would go through MEM.

They also stated awhile back that both MEM & CVG would be retimed (my term) to compliment ATL & DTW respectively, as opposed to competing with them.

 

[Dignity]

I was looking at it from a network planning view.

I know..

your comments just made me remember, at another time when the 'little jets' first arrived on the scene...and the associated comments!

most of what they do (not everything!), is probably well thought out..

and!

its probably, well maybe... a big deal.

Interesting theory. I know that they've mentioned any "new" flying in the south would go through MEM.

They also stated awhile back that both MEM & CVG would be retimed (my term) to compliment ATL & DTW respectively, as opposed to competing with them.

ATL really needs a reliever airport, I mean for goodness sakes how much larger can it get..

if its even possible?

MEM could be a hub that can offset some of the traffic in ATL..

maybe its not really absolutely necessary every flight must go through ATL for a domestic connection..hence the importance of MEM?

one thing about the merger, they have a lot of different possibilities utilizing routes and facilities..

 

[Dignity]

they should keep an International flight(s) at the MEM and CVG hubs..especially to any one of the three International hubs.

that way they could route some passengers on some regional flights to these two regional focused hubs enabling not only a domestic connection but the ability to connect Internationally..(without having to go through a larger hub) maybe they could offer a discount sale for some travel through MEM and CVG to an International hub and make another international connection..(as opposed to connecting to a larger hub at ATL and DTW for a direct International flight especially ATL) because some people will make multiple connections to save money on an airfare, while some will pay a little more for the convenience of the non-stop international..

to me, that could be one way MEM and CVG are important, it offers another way to offset some premium fares while still offering an International flight.

that would be one way to definitely help what appears.. alleviating capacity especially at ATL.

 

[chucky]

According to this article it looks like they eventually want to expand DAL service to include JFK, CVG, ATL and DTW.
Being that DAL is LUV's home base, could this be NW's err DL's response to LUV's entry into MSP?

 

[LoneStarMike]

Being that DAL is LUV's home base, could this be NW's err DL's response to LUV's entry into MSP?

I honestly don't believe it is. NW wanted to do this 3 years ago. Here's the story.

The original 2001 Love Field master plan called for 32 gates. There would have been 26 in the main terminal and the other 6 over at the old Legend Terminal. I believe the City of Dallas owned the land Legend's terminal was built on, but the actual terminal had been built and paid for by Legend. After Legend's demise it was sold. The new landlord was called Love Terminal Partners.

The terminal sat basically unused for the next several years. Then in November, 2004 WN came out in opposition to the Wright Amendment and that whole 2-year battle began.

In March 2006, the cities of Dallas and Fort Worth, AA, WN, and DFW were still trying to come up with a compromise.

One of the issues the Dallas City Council had to tackle was the number of gates permitted in a post-Wright World. The common goal was to be able to control the growth at the airport, while still allowing for fair competition between airlines.

One possibility included reducing the number of gates at Dallas Love Field as a way to limit traffic

Since the six gates at the Legend terminal weren't considered usable by larger aircraft, Mayor Miller favored reducing the maximum number of gates at Love Field to 26 from 32 and wanted to have Legend's former terminal demolished.

Alan Naul, asset manager for Love Terminal Partners, said he'd been getting a lot of interest from airlines interested in serving Love Field since last fall. (of 2005)

In early June of 2006, reports emerged that the Love Terminal Partners, which owned the Legend terminal, said they were close to signing a deal to sell the facility to a publicly traded airline.

That airline was Pinnacle.

When Mayor Miller found out, she wanted the Dallas City Council to study options for acquiring the former Legend terminal, including seizing the property through eminent domain.

In the end, Pinnacle Airways called off the deal.

At the time it was assumed that NW would begin with flights to MEM but service to other hubs would have come later. Otherwise, Pinnacle wouldn't have wanted to buy the entire six gate terminal. And I believe NW and CO were codeshare partners back then, so CO might have moved over there, too, but we'll never know for sure since the deal fell through.

In the end, as part of the Wright Amendment Compromise, It was agreed that the Legend Terminal would indeed be torn down. with only 20 gates allowed in the main terminal, instead of 26. WN had 15, CO had 2 and AA had 3. There were no other gates to be had.

Northwest was not happy at the time. See

JetBlue, Northwest oppose Texas airport deal

Fast forward to this year. AA announces it will leave Love Field effective June 11, but vows to return in 2014.

I think AA has a long term preferential-use lease through 2028, so they have to pay the rent whether or not they use them. Plus, if a new entrant wants to serve DAL and there is gate space available, I don't think AA could refuse to sublease a gate or gates if they weren't using them themselves

So now there are gates available and DL/NW is now doing at DAL what NW wanted to do three years ago. (I believe in the end, Delta will be subleasing these gates from AA.)

I personally don't feel this is some out-of-the-blue knee-jerk reaction to WN's entry into MSP.

 

[Delta Technician]

probably what most people were thinking when the first little airplane with a jet engine showed up for the first time...(not a real big deal..)

but!

it probably is a big deal to the employees who work on the CRJ!

to me, it seems like the two largest hubs are going to have auxiliary hubs relatively close by, sort of like the Earth's moon..(for significant regional operations)...

ATL moon will be MEM and DTW moon will be CVG..

keeping in mind all hubs of course being important.. just strategically different... making up one big 'happy family' in the DAL universe.....

Not everyone likes to go to DFW...now if Delta would just realize not everyone wants to go through ATL. As a matter of fact I can't name anyone who wants to go through ATL.

 

[Don Smith]

And then connecting to...Memphis??? There is still another leg to somewhere if you want to go somewhere overseas. Why not ATL or DTW? Or even MSP?

I might be off the mark, but I just don't see this as quite the "shot across the bow" that others do. I'm looking at it as trying to retain the traffic lost from CO exiting Skyteam (not just at DAL, but other TX cities as well). I realize the significance of Love Field, but 3 CRJ's a day just doesn't seem like too big of deal...

 

[SBN580]

probably what most people were thinking when the first little airplane with a jet engine showed up for the first time...(not a real big deal..)

but!

it probably is a big deal to the employees who work on the CRJ!

to me, it seems like the two largest hubs are going to have auxiliary hubs relatively close by, sort of like the Earth's moon..(for significant regional operations)...

ATL moon will be MEM and DTW moon will be CVG..

keeping in mind all hubs of course being important.. just strategically different... making up one big 'happy family' in the DAL universe.....

I prefer Moonbase CVG.