During the holiday season, Delta Air Lines' network planners were very busy.
Over the Christmas holiday, the Atlanta-based carrier announced six new domestic routes, as initially noted in Cirium timetables and later confirmed by an airline representative.
The additional routes won't launch until spring 2023 (at the earliest), but as of Sunday, Dec. 25, they are all up for booking, allowing tourists looking for warm-weather getaways in a wide range of potential locations.
The full list of the six routes, all of which are intended to improve connectivity in the Northeast, is shown below.
• On May 8, 2023, a once-daily flight will launch between Boston Logan International Airport (BOS) — Memphis International Airport (MEM).
• On October 9, 2023, three-times-daily service will begin between Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA) — Nashville International Airport (BNA).
• On May 8, 2023, a once-daily flight will begin between BOS – Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport (SDF).
• On October 9, 2023, a twice-daily service will begin between DCA – Orlando International Airport (MCO).
• On October 9, 2023, a once-daily flight will begin between DCA – Miami International Airport (MIA).
• Beginning on May 8, 2023, there will be a single daily flight between LaGuardia Airport (LGA) – Clinton National Airport (LIT), which serves Little Rock, Arkansas.
The majority of the new trips will be run by Delta Connection affiliate Republic Airways on the 76-seat Embraer E175 regional plane, which has 44 comfortable 2-2 economy seats, 20 Comfort+ extra-legroom seats, and 12 first-class recliners.
A 157-seat Airbus A320 will be used by Delta to run flights between Washington, D.C., and Miami and Orlando. The 16 first-class recliners, 18 Comfort+ extra-legroom seats, and 123 economy seats are all found on Delta's A320 aircraft.
Despite the fact that all of these routes are new to Delta's timetable, several of them have been run in the past. For instance, according to Cirium timetables, the last scheduled trip from Boston to Memphis was in January 2014, whereas the last scheduled flight from Boston to Louisville was in June 2008.
When each of these six routes launches, Delta won't have exclusive control over any of them. In reality, American Airlines offers service in each of the six markets, so on every route, Delta will face off against one of its greatest rivals.
(JetBlue flies between D.C. and Orlando, whereas Southwest additionally offers service between Washington, D.C., and Nashville and Orlando.)
It should come as no surprise to aviation experts that Delta will compete with American on additional Northeast-focused routes because the carrier is accustomed to protecting and expanding its market share.
Delta will probably compete with American for O&D (origin and destination) traffic in this area because American has a hub at Reagan National Airport.
With two new routes set to debut in May, Delta may be able to reclaim its position as the leading airline in Boston, where it has been neck-and-neck with rivals for the title.
JetBlue Airways and American Airlines have partnered to form the Northeast Alliance, and as a result, the two airlines have added a slew of new routes and increased frequency out of Boston, which could put some pressure on Delta in terms of the market.
But perhaps more intriguingly, Delta is expanding its service at LGA and DCA, two of the country's busiest airports in terms of capacity.
These airports are classified by the Federal Aviation Administration as Level 3 facilities, which means that takeoff and landing permissions are managed using slots.
Each additional flight requires a slot pair, and as part of this week's schedule load, Delta did not eliminate any flights or cut any routes to or from LGA or DCA.
It's unclear whether Delta would eventually cut flights on other destinations to make room for these routes, or whether it will obtain new slots to run these flights.
Separately, one of Delta's premier domestic routes to Hawaii received a significant bump.
The 4,431-mile Atlanta to Maui route will now be operated year-round thanks to a schedule extension made by Delta over the weekend.
A carrier representative said back in February that although certain flights had previously been listed as seasonal winter service, the intention had always been to change them to year-round service.
Now that Delta is carrying out that strategy, it will be simpler than ever for visitors from the Southeast to visit one of Hawaii's most well-liked spots.
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