AUSTIN | ABIA Updates

[Austin1971]

Originally Posted by masonh2479

it sounds like deta’s vp for network planning confirmed austin as a focus city in an article talking about rdu-cdg.
https://www.newsobserver.com/news/bu...215637225.html

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[masonh2479]

Originally Posted by Austin1971

Boom....Like I said the next 6 to 12 months are going to be very transformative for the port. And I do get a kick out of reading all the expert's opinions on Anutter...

“expert’s”

It’s great that we are finally getting to see some real confirmation of Delta’s plans at Austin from a high up!

[GoldenBoot]

Originally Posted by masonh2479

It sounds like Deta’s VP for network planning confirmed Austin as a focus city in an article talking about RDU-CDG.
https://www.newsobserver.com/news/bu...215637225.html

No. I don't believe he did. He was never directly quoted as mentioning Austin as a Focus City. The author of the article was the one who implied that Austin was one of four Delta focus cities - not Joe Esposito (Delta's SVP of Network Planning).

[masonh2479]

Originally Posted by GoldenBoot

No. I don't believe he did. He was never directly quoted as mentioning Austin as a Focus City. The author of the article was the one who implied that Austin was one of four Delta focus cities - not Joe Esposito (Delta's SVP of Network Planning).

Well, way to be the bearer of bad news

At the end of the paragraph where it says Austin is a focus city it says “Esposito said”. Maybe that entire paragraph was a quote from him, I hope it was. I really can’t wait till someone high up just flat out says YES. Maybe, hopefully, this article does confirm Delta’s plans at AUS.

I know I for one am getting tired of waiting and it seems like I may have jumped to the gun to fast on this one in saying it is all confirmed. It all depends on how you interperate the article

[GoldenBoot]

It could possibly be paraphrasing and not a direct quote.

All-in-all, I too would like some hard evidence. I do feel as if it will happen. It has been amazing to see AUS' rapid growth over the past 5+ years!

There is too much smoke for their not to be a fire on this one. Just hope nobody extinguishes it before we know for sure. #fingerscrossed

[Austin1971]

[QUOTE=Adrum23;8264464]You and Jdawgboy both seem to have some juicy information about the future of Delta at Austin, but you both won't give any specific details.

H

[Austin1971]

Originally Posted by goldenboot

no. I don't believe he did. He was never directly quoted as mentioning austin as a focus city. The author of the article was the one who implied that austin was one of four delta focus cities - not joe esposito (delta's svp of network planning).

b

[masonh2479]

Originally Posted by Austin1971

Boot was spot on. Just emailed the reporter and he confirmed that Esposito did not say Austin was a Focus City. He included that info based on the LinkedIn job posting that's been floating around.

Thank you for confirming, I definitely jumped the gun on this one.

[masonh2479]

Originally Posted by GoldenBoot

It could possibly be paraphrasing and not a direct quote.

All-in-all, I too would like some hard evidence. I do feel as if it will happen. It has been amazing to see AUS' rapid growth over the past 5+ years!

There is too much smoke for their not to be a fire on this one. Just hope nobody extinguishes it before we know for sure. #fingerscrossed

Agreed that there are a ton of rumors pointing to the same thing so something must be going on behind closed doors. ABIA’s growth has been extraordinary and I really don’t think it will slow down for a while. If Amazon ever decides they want to confirm their new HQ and AUS is the winner, oh boy. Fingers crossed indeed!

[Austin1971]

I

[The ATX]

Use the Esc key method. It works every time.

[Austin1971]

Originally Posted by austin1971

boot was spot on. Just emailed the reporter and he confirmed that esposito did not say austin was a focus city. He included that info based on the linkedin job posting that's been floating around.

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[freerover]

Originally Posted by The ATX

Use the Esc key method. It works every time.

I found that 60% of the time, it works every time

[lzppjb]

Originally Posted by freerover

I found that 60% of the time, it works every time

[trilliondollarted]

Delta Names Raleigh-Durham Their Next Focus City (Mini-Hub)

Focus city status isn’t official for Austin yet, but as of Friday it is for Raleigh-Durham which serves the Research Triangle area of North Carolina, where Delta is already the largest airline (carrying one-third of passengers, with 10% connecting connecting traffic). Delta’s other focus cities are Cincinnati and Boston (of course Cincinnati used to be a hub).

[khowaga]

Originally Posted by Adrum23

RDU has been a focus city for Delta for the last 2 years, not sure why this is news.

Yeah that’s...weird.

[masonh2479]

Originally Posted by Adrum23

By the way, has gate allocation for the 9 gate expansion been determined yet?

If Delta really wants to expand, then they will need as many of the new gates as possible. Ideally, they will need 8-10 overall. They will also need to limit/prevent Southwest from getting additional gates to keep them in check, which probably won't be possible.

I would think the allocation has been determined privately already, it will probably become public information late this year or early next year, depending on when the extension is going to open.

I agree limiting WN in gate capacity will be nearly impossible and the rumor I side with the most is WN will take DL’s current gates and DL will take 7/9 of the new gates.

[LoneStarMike]

deleted

[khowaga]

Originally Posted by Adrum23

That would bring them to 10 overall and allow them to start building a nice operation while they wait for the satellite concourse to be built.

ABIA has a choice here, either they can let WN grow unchecked or roll out the carpet for DL if they indeed want to expand AUS into a focus city/hub. The latter option will be much more beneficial long term.

Southwest has been very good to and for Austin. The port has a lot of reasons not to alienate its largest carrier.

The error in your logic is that you are suggesting the port has to choose between DL and WN—if they are good at what they do, they should be able to keep both relatively happy. Let’s presume that, if Delta is still moving forward, they’ve looked at the schematics and done their planning for the next several years, and are happy with whatever the port has given them for the time being.

I know that your *opinion* is that they should focus on DL, but until DL has been able to make the focus city successful (RIP: TWA’s focus city at Atlanta, American’s at Nashville, Continental’s at Greenville/Spartanburg, United’s at San Antonio, America West’s at Columbus), ABIA would be wise not to focus solely on the shiny new toy. Columbus, to name one, still hasn’t recovered the level of service it had, and it’s been almost two decades since that hub was shuttered.

The port’s responsibility is to the people of Austin, not to Delta, and right now the people of Austin are still pretty loyal to Southwest. If Delta wants some sort of priority or privileged status with the port they should demonstrate that they’ve earned it.

[Jdawgboy]

Originally Posted by khowaga

The port’s responsibility is to the people of Austin, not to Delta, and right now the people of Austin are still pretty loyal to Southwest. If Delta wants some sort of priority or privileged status with the port they should demonstrate that they’ve earned it.

I wouldn't say so much that people are loyal to Southwest more like Southwest is still the only game in town to get them where they need to go. If another carrier steps up then I can see an exodus from Southwest.