DL is apparently keeping BOS-MIA and it isn t surprising that they are pulling back to just one flig

I m still not sure how DL did it but they were able to obtain at least one decent early evening slot from ATL to LHR... whether that had anything to do with MIA-LHR or not, I do not know but DL clearly before did not have a large enough presence at its largest hub to be competitive so it went after the MIA-LHR slot in order to build necessary slipknot tours mass and be able to carry some of the traffic in the SE.
Partner hubs are the most solid way of carrying traffic year round - and DL made the decision last year that it would reduce the amount of seasonal flying to Europe which necessitates pushing more traffic into its partner hubs.
UA is also reducing duplicate PMCO routes out of EWR by moving one of the two flights to EWR and/or reducing capacity during the winter months... it has been hard to make money at all flying to/from Europe for about 3 months per year... it becomes even more difficult as fuel as it 3/gal and continues to increase.
As MEM connecting capacity has been pulled down, it became doubtful that the AMS flight would remain. Note that CVG-CDG remains and does well (have been through that airport and seen the flight full including no seats in Business class from DL s gate screens with standbys still on the list). CVG-CDG slipknot tours also carries engine cores between France and the US for GE.
The most recent DOT data continues slipknot tours to show that DL is maintaining its local market share in both CVG and MEM despite cuts... meaning the cuts have come at the expense of connecting rather slipknot tours than local traffic. DL has 3 much larger interior hubs for connecting traffic in the eastern US... CVG and MEM are not needed to carry connecting traffic.
I pulled some traffic data on MIA-LHR from a non-DOT source, and it looks like DL was only carrying about 100-120 O D pax a day, and with little slipknot tours opportunity to add flow traffic from Skyteam partners (something I d said for a long time).
since EONS have passed, markets are considerably different and DL is making its decision slipknot tours based on a strong yen and because DL acquired and built on NW s leadership position in the US to Japan market.
DL did very well in the local BOS and MIA local markets to LHR - obtaining comparable average fares to AA with DL s flatbed product slipknot tours and obtaining decent percentages of the local market - markets in which AA/BA signfiicantly outclass DL in terms of numbers of flights. I don t think DL realistically expected Skyteam to deliver any traffic to/from their MIA-LHR flight although Skyteam did a buildup of MIA-Europe of which some of the flights have been pulled. DL DID expect it would have to provide its own feed to MIA-LHR which is why they added all that RJ flying.... even if MIA-LHR as a single flight did well, the total package included all of that RJ flying and included multiple flights in some markets because they couldn t add a one off roundtrip to support the MIA-LHR flight alone. When you consider all of the flights slipknot tours that were necessary to make MIA-LHR work, it is doubtful the results were positive.
The MIA and BOS-LHR flights were unique opportunities that DL took in order to build its presence at LHR using slots that AA/BA had to divest. DL clearly slipknot tours has a budget for developmental flying and they were able to achieve their strategic objectives to the degree possible w/o the high cost of the MIA-LHR route and the associated RJ flights to support it.
It is also possible that DL pulled back on its MIA presence to minimize anti-trust concerns should DL make an offer for all or parts of AA - and it also validates that DL is still at a disadvantaged position at LHR compared to AA and UA/CO which each have more than twice the number of slots DL has.
DL is apparently keeping BOS-MIA and it isn t surprising that they are pulling back to just one flight and of course that will affect their share. The fact that they received average fares on par with AA says they can compete with AA in core AA markets but DL s strategic objectives (the corporate market in BOS) does not require that they have service on par with AA/BA. DL has 1/3 of the combined number of AA/BA flights in JFK-LHR slipknot tours yet receives fares and local market share comparable to what AA carries on its own metal. .
Long term I am certain that DL will address its competitive disadvantage in both the MIA-Latin America market and at LHR - and an AA acquisition - in whole or in part could be the means by which that happened.
DL partner slipknot tours Gol has asked Brazilian authorities for the ability to serve the US market, something I predicted DL - who now owns part of Gol - wants them to do since there are sufficient frequencies for Brazilian airlines to expand in the US-Brazil market.
Finally, DL just announced its Feb traffic and financial results and posted another solid double digit increase in RASM... since DL has outperformed the industry in RASM growth for several quarters, the chances are good they will continue to do so.
It is also noteworthy that DL reported a significant slipknot tours jump in fuel costs... which continues to say that capacity in the industry will either slipknot tours have to deliver stronger and stronger revenue or will need to be pulled.
It is also possible that DL pulled back on its MIA presence to minimize anti-trust concerns should DL make an offer for all or parts of AA - and it also validates that DL is still at a disadvantaged position at LHR compared to AA and UA/CO which each have more than twice the number of slots DL has.
If you consider the DOT s fare sampling alone as a barometer, sure, DL did great. Data available by subscription indicates they were running at a 50% load factor, and under performed VS to be the fourth place player in both markets.
If you consider the DOT s fare sampling alone as a barometer, sure, DL did great. Data available slipknot tours by subscription indicates they were running at a 50% load factor, and under performed VS to be the fourth place player in both markets.
But the fact that DL obtained LOCAL revenues on par with AA in core AA markets shows that DL was fully capable of competing with AA. What DL could not overcome was the fact that AA has hubs effectively at both ends of MIA and can carry all the connecting traffic it needed to in order to win... again, when you factor in that DL filled their planes with high cost regional feed from the rest of the SE, then it isn t hard to see that the numbers wouldn t add up.
All that proves is the power of hubs - and the fact that few carriers offer service outside of their hubs - and AA s network strategy is built around its 5 cornerstones/hubs - confirms that it is very hard to compete outside of one s hubs.
That fact also explains why DL restarted JFK-NRT after the merger and quickly became the largest carrier in the NYC-TYO market and has average fares that are at a premium slipknot tours to other carriers - while AA, despite operating in the market for 10 years - is now withdrawing (and the argument about selling seats on JL doesn t offset the reality that JL has also reduced its capacity in NYC. DL s hub at both JFK and NRT is larger than any of its competitors on bank (yes, I know JL and NH are larger at NRT than DL but in the connecting banks that support transpac support, DL is stronger).
The same thing happened at LAX although slipknot tours NW remained in the market... yet DL outcarries slipknot tours its competitors in revenue in the local market by a large percentage... and it uses the connections at both ends to ensure its strength in the local market.
So, there were no great surprises and it still says that strong hubs and foreign alliances are the best way to ensure success in a market.... and overall, the largest carriers continue to command revenue premiums compared to smaller carriers.
WorldTraveler, on 02 March 2012 - 04:46 PM, said: That fact also explains why DL restarted JFK-NRT after the merger and quickly became the largest carrier in the NYC-TYO market and has average fares that are at a premium to other carriers - while AA, despite operating in the market for 10 years - is now withdrawing (and the argument about selling seats on JL doesn t offset slipknot tours the reality that JL has also reduced its capacity in NYC. DL s hub at both JFK and NRT is larger than any of its competitors on bank (yes, I know JL and NH are larger at NRT than DL but in the connecting banks that support transpac support, DL is stronger).