Because its still a lot of conjecture at this point, albeit informed, not hard plans.

True. But they are hard plans, they just reserve the right to change them when they see fit. :)

I guess that's one way of looking at it, I would be very surprised if ATL had an actual reduction in flights. I think it will remain the largest single airline hub (international and domestic) in the world, (as well as the busiest airport in the world) for quite some time to come. But yes, only because of the simple fact of the merger, ATL will have a lesser percentage of all flying at Delta than before the merger. I have been through the Western and PanAm mergers and have seen quite a few "fortress" hubs/domiciles that ended up being "Gone with the Wind",(SFO, SEA, DFW, MCO, MIA/FLL, BOS, MSY, IAH, ORD) ....but through it all, there stands Tara (ATL)....like a Stone Wall. (to mix a few literary and historical metaphors!) [Afterall the airport is named the (William B.) Hartsfield-(Stonewall) Jackson International Airport;)]

I think you might very well see a reduction in ATL traffic - which it desperately needs IMO - and see the eggs spread around in more widely dispersed baskets - they didn't merge with NWA so they could build up ATL, but to capture a lot of traffic from other markets - where those markets exist.

I disagree. If anything I think they will grow ATL. Any reduction in ATL would open the door for Airtran. If AT were to go out of business and Delta did not need to protect it, you may see a reduction. Until then ATL will stay the same or get bigger.

If the MSP "fortress hub" becomes "gone with the wind" it will be due to a lack of defense. Delta bought Western for the West coast feed and now we will have to acquire it again via Alaska Airlines. Let's not repeat history with our Northern hub.

Yeah, if anything I'd bet ATL sees a bit more traffic. An example is the additional Narita flight. We can't just throw a whale on that route (in addition to the 777) and not feed it. I hate to be a glass half empty kind of guy; however, I would be surprised if Delta doesn't reduce MSP and or MEM/CVG a bit more.

Delta management's philosophy has always been to leverage the strength and size of the ATL hub, I'd be surprised to see that change.

Uh, that would be the (William B.) Hartsfield-(Maynard) Jackson International Airport...as in former Atlanta mayor Maynard "you better give all the airport concessions to my buddies, or I'll call you a racist" Jackson.

You will see ATL grow. I do not see MSP shrinking to much. It has many Fortune 100 companies up there as well. (Those target execs. need to get to Paris to talk to their owners! ;) )
There will be a lot of shifting. I bet we will see a gauge increase to ATL, not necessarily a frequency increase. We are going to be competing in ways Delta has never done before.
Then again competition is a new word around here!

When they added the second name to the airport was when I started referring to it as simply "Atlanta" in my PAs. (Fortunately, the only time I now see ATL is when I go to recurrent.)