Memphis has heard the bad news.  Delta has said that due to continuing financial losses on routes from that city, it is “de-hubbing” the city.  The process will start after Labor Day and Delta says it will keep a large presence in the city.

Memphis sees this as bad, I see it as good.  Having hub status was prestige but I’m not sure it was real value.  In fact, air fares from Memphis were kind of high and while the service frequencies were nice, they probably weren’t necessary if Delta couldn’t earn a solid profit there.

They’ve got Southwest moving in and I think they’ll be surprised to see how Southwest might “luv” Memphis.  This is an opportunity to put a lot of point to point connections through Memphis that may serve its purposes far better in the long run.  And businesses won’t mind having a significant airline presence that offers useful routes and value oriented prices.

I look for Southwest Airlines to turn this into real opportunity for itself as it can build point to point flights to and from Memphis that will provide real profits and which will fit very well into Southwest’s existing destinations.

Filed under: Airline News by ajax
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