Delta adds 5 new Austin routes just weeks after American's big retreat

Delta Air Lines is picking up the slack that American Airlines left in Austin.

The Atlanta-based carrier filed plans over the weekend to add five new routes from Austin-Bergstrom International Airport (AUS), as first seen in Cirium schedules and later announced by the airline.

None of the new Austin routes touch a Delta hub. Instead, they're all point-to-point services designed to appeal to the local population looking for more nonstop options.

The expansion kicks off in the spring with flights to Panama City, Florida. You'll find the full list of new routes below.

• Panama City, starting March 9, 2025
• Indianapolis, starting May 7, 2025
• Memphis, starting May 7, 2025
• San Francisco, starting June 8, 2025
• Tampa, starting June 8, 2025

Three of the five new routes will be operated by Delta Connection regional affiliate SkyWest Airlines on board the Embraer E175 jet. Service to San Francisco and Tampa will operate on the larger mainline Airbus A220-300, which offers a comfortable ride for passengers both in the front and in the back.

Of the new routes, just one has operated before, Austin to Memphis. Delta last operated this route in August 2014, Cirium schedules show.

Delta's network strategy doesn't typically include much point-to-point service, but Austin is a notable exception since it remains a key focus city for the carrier.

Before the coronavirus pandemic, Delta had five focus cities across the county: Austin; Cincinnati; Nashville; Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina; and San Jose, California. Early in the pandemic, the airline downgraded Nashville and San Jose to "regular" outstations, leaving Austin, Cincinnati and Raleigh-Durham as focus cities.

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In late 2023, Delta added two new routes from Austin to Las Vegas and Orlando. Earlier this year, Delta debuted four more new Austin routes, including three intra-Texas services (Harlingen, Midland-Odessa and McAllen), as well as a route to Nashville.

With all these new flights, Delta's Austin focus city continues to grow, while one of its chief competitors keeps scaling back service in Austin.

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Just two weeks ago, American put the final nail in the coffin for its pandemic-era growth strategy in Austin.

During the pandemic, American wanted to establish itself as the go-to airline for Austin flyers with a mix of business and leisure routes. Beginning in March 2021, the airline launched 10 new routes, followed by 14 more just three months later, including both domestic service and international flights to Mexico, Costa Rica and the Dominican Republic.

However, a few years later, the situation changed dramatically.

Last year, American cut 21 routes from Austin, followed by another five in late July. With four more routes being cut earlier this month, American has largely reversed its recent expansion efforts.

That's in stark contrast to Delta, which continues to grow in the Texas capital. Amy Martin, Delta's vice president of North America network planning, said in an interview with TPG earlier this year that the airline is "quite pleased" with the performance of its AUS flights.

Texas is a notable gap in Delta's route map, as the airline doesn't have a hub in the state. American, on the other hand, has its largest hub just about 200 miles away in Dallas-Fort Worth, so Delta's long-term prospects in the Austin market may indeed be better than American's.

"Delta has made its commitment to Austin known, and these new routes and the 55 peak-day departures planned for Summer 2025 reaffirm that," Joe Esposito, Delta's senior vice president of network planning, said in a statement. "This is on top of the already 20% seat capacity increase we put into service in April connecting Austin to new destinations in major corporate and leisure markets both within Texas and outside the state — onward throughout our global network."

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