Originally Posted by
Hotel Kilo
Hello, DAL guy here. Yes, we are #2 at BOS and #2 at SEA. We won't be #2 at BOS for much longer. JBLU is foundering there. We'll continue to capacity dump on them. We've opened the 330 pilot base there and we fully expect to add other fleets to base there. At SEA we are behind Alaska, but not by much. We have plans there and as our 350s continue to roll in expect more of a footprint there as well. If you think we're going to surrender AUS to you I think you'd be wrong. Big plans there.
The problem you all have is you don't offer premium anything. And you are at least a decade behind DAL and UAL on that. The market demographics have been shifting. People, the customers we (DAL and UAL) are targeting, want the premium experience. Do you have galleys in your planes? I don't recall seeing them. Do you offer anything close to D1 or Polaris? Not even your "first class" is comparable to DAL or UAL. Again, you are about a decade behind where the market is moving. UAL and DAL have seen it and they are working to secure that premium flyer.
in order for you to compete with them in the future you're going to have to build lounges, upgrade cabins and service and provide a truly premium product. UAL getting their cabins with more premium is going to give you guys some issues. They fly to more areas that are your "turf" than we do. However, AUS won't be one place we are going to sit idly by. That is a premium market and one you won't be able to compete for unless and until you offer something commensurate with what we and UAL offer.
Lot of friends that fly for you guys, I hope to see you bring your A-game here. But until you get the lounges, the cabin interiors and truly offer a premium product you will lose market share to us and UAL. It's already happening. You can keep flying Joe and Margarita around p2p but in the end the $$$ are in the premium customer.
Delta has been #1 in BOS for a while now. Excluding regional feed is arbitrary as it’s critical to feeding hubs and operates under the Delta umbrella for profit/loss. This gap will clearly grow as B6 falters, more pax default to DL+AMEX, and DL adds some gates in 28’ when the A+B connector is online and cont. to up-gauge.
AUS, the market share gap that exists today will close per the Lease Agreement with ABIA and CEO Badawi - “40-40-20 market share split”.
DL: 15 firm + 8 common in A
WN: 18 firm + 3 common in B
Delta will be anchored in the preferred terminal: A which will be immensely larger after the new A/D Hall finishes adding several hundred thousand sqft. Add in closer proximity to pickup/dropoff, intl/customs, two massive DL clubs, and a $250M investment by DL to refreshen the BJT. WN will lose its share advantage. It’s already in writing. Something has to change if WN is gonna remain competitive there.
The DL ecosystem of Regional feed + Skyteam/Codeshares/JV’s + Mainline will likely surpass WN in market share, ultimately. WN still has no plans for a club in AUS (may be too late as agreements for space are signed going into 2036). The arrival of the DL 787 will be arriving the same time B goes up allowing Delta to launch some high CASM+cargo ops targeting Europe and South America too.
But, WN does have the AUS base which overshadows all the fluff I just mentioned