Atlanta Airport - Airline Service & Routes Updates Thread (Macon: 2015, tax)

[testa50]

Delta is making ATL - Zurich summer seasonal only, instead of year-round.

KLM is bumping AMS - ATL from 7 weekly to 12 weekly during the winter.

One step forward, one step back.

[Atlwarrior]

Nice article on Delta's Atlanta hub

SmartBrief - Industry E-mail Newsletters for Professionals

[jsvh]

Originally Posted by Atlwarrior

Nice article on Delta's Atlanta hub

SmartBrief - Industry E-mail Newsletters for Professionals

Link to the article:
How Delta Air Lines Mapped A Path To Success And Followed It - Forbes

Key quote:

As for Delta, it used bankruptcy to remake itself. Delta has one of U.S. airline industry’s best assets: the Atlanta hub, the biggest single airline hub in the world.

Before the bankruptcy, Atlanta was squandered, used largely to connect passengers between the Northeast and Florida – a leisure market with little potential to provide revenue premiums. Now Atlanta has 970 daily departures to 210 destinations including 62 international destinations. Overall, Delta serves 59 countries.

[cwkimbro]

Originally Posted by jsvh

Link to the article:
How Delta Air Lines Mapped A Path To Success And Followed It - Forbes

Key quote:

Yea I read that quote... it was perhaps the one thing I didn't agree with.

It was a large domestic hub and not just a go between for people form the Northeast to Florida, perhaps for him.

As a hub its a go between: Florida, Texas, Chicago, Bos-Wash Corridor, and the rest of the south and parts of the midwest. Atlanta's domestic presence was far more well-rounded in Atlanta than he gives it credit for.

I do agree they made a sizable down payment trying to lure better travelers from NY and I do agree they have been expanding international destinations.

I also do agree they've tried to put a better foot forward on appearance. Many check-in areas in larger cities have been renovated, the staff is better uniformed than it use to be, and appears they have had more training on positive attitudes with customers. It is noticeably better than it was 6 or 7 years ago.

[Atlwarrior]

Originally Posted by cwkimbro

Yea I read that quote... it was perhaps the one thing I didn't agree with.

It was a large domestic hub and not just a go between for people form the Northeast to Florida, perhaps for him.

As a hub its a go between: Florida, Texas, Chicago, Bos-Wash Corridor, and the rest of the south and parts of the midwest. Atlanta's domestic presence was far more well-rounded in Atlanta than he gives it credit for.

I do agree they made a sizable down payment trying to lure better travelers from NY and I do agree they have been expanding international destinations.

I also do agree they've tried to put a better foot forward on appearance. Many check-in areas in larger cities have been renovated, the staff is better uniformed than it use to be, and appears they have had more training on positive attitudes with customers. It is noticeably better than it was 6 or 7 years ago.

I remember when Delta would fly mostly widebodies from Atlanta to Florida cities, but management began to deploy those planes to Europe. Good move!

Unfortunately Delta's Atlanta success is mainly due to Eastern Airline Demise. Although Delta was always the larger airline out of Atlanta, Eastern had many nonstops out of Atlanta and competed very well with Delta.

If Eastern was still Alive, maybe Delta would only have about 600-700 daily flights out of Atlanta, and Eastern around 400. Delta has always being my favorite airline, and is doing a superb job.

[cwkimbro]

Originally Posted by Atlwarrior

If Eastern was still Alive, maybe Delta would only have about 600-700 daily flights out of Atlanta, and Eastern around 400. Delta has always being my favorite airline, and is doing a superb job.

Yea I've always been curious what it would have been like earlier on.

I'm fairly young. It seems I became a frequent flier at the pinnacle of US resentment from bad service at domestic airlines, which I'm guessing is partly from a lack of investment from the recession. For me I didn't have a great feeling towards Delta, except for the value of their flight offerings (which we all know is no small thing), but the service to me was just "oh well, at least it isn't American Airlines."

But I see the new changes these days. What amazes me is how some of them were relatively small things, that I wish they kept things up better from the get go.

[Atlwarrior]

Although no added capacity, Atlanta did gain a new airline.

Virgin Atlantic to fly to Atlanta! - Travel Skills

[ATLondoner]

Originally Posted by Atlwarrior

Although no added capacity, Atlanta did gain a new airline.

Virgin Atlantic to fly to Atlanta! - Travel Skills

This is actually pretty exciting (for me anyway!), will be great to fly Virgin back home to London and still get the Skymiles!

[testa50]

A few things:

- Delta adding Ottawa, Canada daily during Christmas, and then once weekly. Always good to get another international service, even if it is only weekly.

- Delta's adding a few new routes during Christmas (Oakland CA, Elmira NY, and Erie PA).

- Delta apparently upped Atlanta - Port au Prince to daily service. I wouldn't be shocked to see this dialed back eventually, but still cool to have in the meantime. They're really focused on serving every possible short haul destination they can out of ATL.

[Atlwarrior]

Airline proposes flights from Atlanta to Mississippi cities - Atlanta Business Chronicle