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Delta to offer more connections in Austin focus city. Will it ever be a hub?

    Austin isn’t technically a Delta Air Lines hub city, but the Lone Star State’s capital sure has the airline’s attention these days.

    Looking at a U.S. map, you’d be hard-pressed to find another city that has seen Delta jets roll into town at the pace Austin has seen in recent years — a product of the carrier doubling down on

    And those are merely two examples. Check out the map below to see how the carrier has expanded its Austin footprint from just a few years ago.

    cirium map delta
    2023 Delta Air Lines route map from Austin Bergstrom International Airport (AUS). CIRIUM
    Year Delta’s peak daily departing flights from Austin
    <span style=”font-weight: 400;”>2019</span> <span style=”font-weight: 400;”>28</span>
    <span style=”font-weight: 400;”>2026</span> <span style=”font-weight: 400;”>65</span>

    Potential for international Austin service

    With all that growth, it’s fair to wonder whether Delta’s Austin map could someday include long-haul international service, which View from the Wing recently reported could be on the horizon.

    “We’re always evaluating what the next best opportunity is,” Martin said, playing coy. “I don’t have anything to share right now — but we are always looking at that opportunity.”

    When asking the question, I admittedly had visions of the Eiffel Tower in my mind, since Paris is both a major Delta market in Europe, and a city to which Austin flyers currently don’t have a nonstop flight.

    For now, expect the airline to keep trying to chip away, domestically, at the sizable lead maintained in Austin by perennial market leader Southwest Airlines; despite the splash Delta has made at AUS in recent years, it remains the remains the No. 2 carrier in town (a spot it’s reached thanks, in part, to American Airlines rapidly pulling back from the airport.)

    Southwest Boeing 737 Austin
    A Southwest Airlines Boeing 737. ZACH GRIFF/THE POINTS GUY

    AUS: Total departing flights by airline

    DATA VIA CIRIUM

    From focus city to hub?

    There is history for Delta in taking a one-time focus city in turning it into a hub.

    The carrier did just that with Boston in 2019. But in the long term, Martin doesn’t seem to envision the airline pushing all its cards into the middle of the blackjack — err, Texas Hold ’em — table in Austin in the same way.

    “I think right now we’re continuing to kind of focus on building out those top local markets,” she said. “More on the focus city model.”

    Austin Bergstrom International Airport (AUS). BRANDON BELL/GETTY IMAGES

    But over the coming years, when you go to book a Delta flight, there likely will be more chances to skip the Atlanta layover in favor of a short stop in Austin: The carrier plans to offer many more connections at AUS, Martin said.

    That alone would be a big shift for an airline, in Delta, that’s the only “Big Three” U.S. carrier without a Texas hub — a shift the carrier is looking to capitalize on for years to come.

    “We’ve made some very good inroads,” Martin said. “We still see a lot of opportunity to build out.”

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    Editorial disclaimer: Opinions expressed here are the author’s alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, airline or hotel chain, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities.