DL slashes MEM again

[jcw]

DL will be down to 23 flights in MEM with layoffs of non-Union staff

AA will now have more flights in MEM than DL

 

[topDawg]

DL will be down to 23 flights in MEM with layoffs of non-Union staff

AA will now have more flights in MEM than DL

 
ATL, CVG, MSP, DTW, LAX, LGA, MCO, IND, RDU, ORD will keep flights. LAS, SLC will go seasonal 
 
everything else gone. I think the count is a cut of 84 employees. 

 

[commavia]

DL will be down to 23 flights in MEM with layoffs of non-Union staff

AA will now have more flights in MEM than DL

 
Indeed - interesting that by January AA will apparently have more departures out of MEM than Delta (although Delta will still have more capacity).  This is particularly notable because Delta and Northwest have traditionally been the market leaders in MEM - going back many decades.  Also notable is that with this latest retrenchment, AA will now have both the MEM-DFW and MEM-DCA markets to themselves (albeit with Southwest still in MEM-WAS with a daily MEM-BWI).
 
Just as many of us predicted years ago - this just goes to show how over-capacitized MEM was and how uneconomic it was to force connections over MEM into small cities on 50-seat RJs when a dramatically larger hub, with vastly better economies of scale, was only a few hundred miles away.  Now the closure of the MEM hub is nearly complete.  I doubt ORD will last much longer - Delta is now smaller in the market than AA and United, and has less of a competitive base in CHI to build upon.  IND and RDU may have a slightly better shot because of Delta's strong presence in both places, and IND may actually pick up some level of FedEx-related O&D, although I wonder if one or both of those may end up getting cut at some point, too.

 

[topDawg]

 
Indeed - interesting that by January AA will apparently have more departures out of MEM than Delta (although Delta will still have more capacity).  This is particularly notable because Delta and Northwest have traditionally been the market leaders in MEM - going back many decades.  Also notable is that with this latest retrenchment, AA will now have both the MEM-DFW and MEM-DCA markets to themselves (albeit with Southwest still in MEM-WAS with a daily MEM-BWI).
 
Just as many of us predicted years ago - this just goes to show how over-capacitized MEM was and how uneconomic it was to force connections over MEM into small cities on 50-seat RJs when a dramatically larger hub, with vastly better economies of scale, was only a few hundred miles away.  Now the closure of the MEM hub is nearly complete.  I doubt ORD will last much longer - Delta is now smaller in the market than AA and United, and has less of a competitive base in CHI to build upon.  IND and RDU may have a slightly better shot because of Delta's strong presence in both places, and IND may actually pick up some level of FedEx-related O&D, although I wonder if one or both of those may end up getting cut at some point, too.

I am not sure if Delta hasn't loaded two more cuts or not (of course if your don't the AVG in Jan that might why, but January is a stupid month to do avgs because some many flight shifts in the first week) 
 
but I show Delta at 25 flights on peak days (1x LAX, 3x DTW, 3x MSP, 1x LGA, 2x CVG, 3x ORD, 10x ATL, 1x IND, 1x RDU, 1x MCO) and AA at 22 (3x DCA, 3x, PHL, 4x ORD, 6x DFW, 6x CLT). 
 
Anyways, IND and ORD are both markets that have F class in them. RDU is CRJ only. (even showing an e-jet to CVG oddly enough)
 
but I figured ORD would go before DCA so.... 

 

[Kev3188]

DL will be down to 23 flights in MEM with layoffs of non-Union staff

AA will now have more flights in MEM than DL

Never thought I'd see that day. When I worked in MEM, AA's operation (and US', for that matter) seemed like outposts just past the end of the line...

To Commavia's point about IND: In the main, I'd agree. I will add that DL no longers uses FX for shipping, so I wonder what (if any) sort of dynamics that adds...

 

[WorldTraveler]

let's remember that AA's absolute RASM and RASM growth lags DL which is due in large part because AA has yet to deal with hub rationalization.

if MEM makes sense, then anyone should fly it but there really is no indication that DL is walking away from profitable flying or that anyone else is stepping into replace much of what DL has cut.

 

[jimntx]

If we were discussing the pros and cons of cornbread vs. white bread stuffing, you would insert a sentence about what AA is doing wrong, wouldn't you? You are so very tiresome.

 

[does this plane go to paris]

Jim,
 
WT took WN to task in several posts because WN dropped cities that AirTran was flying to either once a day or less and it was the absolute evilest thing that occured.  DL drops hubs in DFW, MEM and CVG and it's ok. 
 
As a side note, I find it tab bit ironic that DL is creating SEA into their Trans-Pac hub and just ordered Airbus. 

 

[WorldTraveler]

If we were discussing the pros and cons of cornbread vs. white bread stuffing, you would insert a sentence about what AA is doing wrong, wouldn't you? You are so very tiresome.

tiresome is more of a measure of how well you hold up.

In this case the fact that AA's absolute RASM is lower than DL's is a pretty good indication that AA is not getting the quality of revenue that DL does.  
 

As a side note, I find it tab bit ironic that DL is creating SEA into their Trans-Pac hub and just ordered Airbus.

because which Boeing is headquartered in Chicago?

 

[jcw]

tiresome is more of a measure of how well you hold up.

In this case the fact that AA's absolute RASM is lower than DL's is a pretty good indication that AA is not getting the quality of revenue that DL does.  
 

because which Boeing is headquartered in Chicago?

 
Oh now we get your strategy - "its how well you hold up"
 
so it proves everyone's point on you needing to get the last word in

 

[jimntx]

tiresome is more of a measure of how well you hold up.

As an English major I must point out that you don't seem to know your own language. The word, tiresome, has NOTHING to do with stamina. Of course, I'm assuming that you claim English as your first language. If I'm wrong, I do apologize.

From the New World Dictionary of the American Language:

tiresome adj 1. tiring; boring; tedious. 2. annoying; irksome.

As far as I can tell, all apply to you.

 

[robbedagain]

isn't amazin how some certain dl preacher preaches how AA WN and other air carriers are horrible when it comes to decisions  yet when DL does draculin cuts like this  its flat out OK!     what a pathetic sad situation those folks face   Employees at will     Good Luck to all affected in MEM

 

[WorldTraveler]

Oh now we get your strategy - "its how well you hold up"
 
so it proves everyone's point on you needing to get the last word in

it's actually about profitability.

airlines in the US are for profit companies, not hobbies or state-run businesses.

 

[jcw]

it's actually about profitability.

airlines in the US are for profit companies, not hobbies or state-run businesses.

Translation for everyone
 
I was busted again - so try true method I use all the time - change the topic - this time I went from trashing posters on how long they can hold on - to profitability - pretty neat how I can just rationalize things
 
So what I was really saying is hang in their and burn money as long as you can until you might make a profit on a route or hub - that is the DL strategy - see no other airline can do that only DL

 

[WorldTraveler]

you make no sense. if you make a profit, then you aren't burning money.

if AA or US can operate hubs profitability, then no one will make the least bit of objection about what they do.

when AA has RASM growth that is at the bottom of the big 4, then you have to ask why.

and further, my criticism in the past for AA and US was that in most cases - all of AA's former hubs - that they aren't even the largest carrier in the LOCAL market.

when you shut a hub and can't hold on to the local market, then something is wrong.

DL didn't lose the local market in CVG. It is still very possible that could happen to DL in MEM.