CVG was a pre-merger powerhouse. Post merger with DTW right up the road, they clearly had to pick one. CVG is still a great market for its size, and DL enjoys great revenue on scale there. They just don't need any of the 70%+ pre merger flying through there that was 100% arbitrary connections that could have been anywhere and is now being done out of DTW. CVG was always a focus city that enjoyed artificial "hub on steroids" (as Bethune once put it) but will always remain a significant focus city…unless DL gives it up to the capacity dumping yield thrashers some day.

SEA is completely different. It is a regional keystone now. A true hub out of necessity. It could almost be PDX as well, but they had to pick one and they picked SEA, probably for its higher O&D, despite its higher competition. Its a slightly better location wise as well.

SEA will never be close to being as big as ATL or NYC. But at this point I think it will be around for a very, very long time. And it will most likely grow a lot compared to today's size.