I cannot see Delta opening another base. For as long as I have been here, Delta has systematically closed bases not based on revenue or demand, but whether or not the LEC goes with whatever ATL and management want. We have a lot of new pilots, I don't mean experience or seniority, but time on the property; enough time on the property to see how the company reacts through the economic cycles.
Post 9-11, DFW was Delta's largest base. DFW was not going along with concessions, so they closed the entire base and handed it over to American. During this shuffle we ended up with an MEC Chair no one knew anything about. This MEC Chair pushed the merger contract and I believe TA12, both of which were worse than any contract at the regionals. He ultimately got voted out and shortly after ended up with his own aviation consulting firm in DC, just down the block from the number one union labor busting law firm, Ford and Harrison. Delta eventually hired one of Ford and Harrison's best. See how that works?
Post merger, DAL closed two NWA (an airline notorious for striking) bases in short order. The first two contracts after the merger decimated our international scope, outsourced the entire west coast NB operation to ALK and brought us the "jumbo RJ." This is why you regional guys spent over a decade of your career at the regionals. However, CVG was left open with a ridiculously small pilot population for almost a decade. CVG also had several of DAL's most notorious posters on APC and Chit Chat, union comms committee and special project pilots seemingly available 24/7 to correct the narrative as needed.
Look no further than the last contract. They voted in a new MEC chair by one vote. Ask yourself how that vote may have gone with a BOS, MCO, FLL/MIA and AUS base? No one knows, and neither does DAL management. For them it would be an unknown and another risk to mitigate during a downturn. Management is always thinking the next big event over the horizon. I believe this is why they want the VBs. It gives them scheduling flexibility and reliability without another LEC to worry about and it is also a hedge against changing fleet types or closing a base altogether, neither of which have any protections under the PWA (think paid moves and displacement rights).
For those that disagree, please step back and think about every decision you have seen management make since 2017 and ask yourself if any of this is plausible. What's a SIL? We are STILL recovering from that.
It is what it is. Delta (the personnel at CPO and below) is a great place to work. That being said, I would not come to DAL with expectations or hopes of a new base.