Delta adds interesting Miami flight, cuts Boston route before it even starts

Miami may not officially be a hub for Delta Air Lines, but that's not stopping the carrier from boosting service from South Florida's biggest city.

This time, Delta is adding service from Miami to Nassau in the Bahamas, a short 184-mile route that doesn't seemingly fit into the airline's hub-and-spoke strategy.

The new daily service will commence on Nov. 5 and will operate year-round aboard a Boeing 737 jet.

Separately, Delta will cancel its new Boston-to-Mexico City route before it even begins. First announced in May, service was supposed to commence later this year on Dec. 21.

Now, the airline is pulling the route entirely from its schedule due to "commercial and operational considerations," reads a statement from Delta.

Meanwhile, elsewhere in the Caribbean, Delta will extend service between New York's LaGuardia Airport (LGA) and Nassau to a year-round operation; it'll also add a second daily frequency on Saturdays from John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) to Aruba starting on Jan. 8.

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All of these network changes were confirmed by a carrier spokesperson, and they'll be updated in Delta's timetables over the weekend.

There's a lot to unpack in this announcement, starting with the new Miami route.

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As mentioned, Miami isn't a hub for Delta, but it's slowly turning into a key gateway city for the carrier.

That's thanks to the airline's nascent joint venture partnership with LATAM, the South American juggernaut, that officially began less than a year ago.

Delta shocked the industry in September 2019 when it announced it was taking a 20% stake in LATAM, pulling the airline away from the Oneworld alliance. As part of the investment, Delta is working to create a strategic alliance with LATAM, boosting flights in key U.S. gateway airports to Latin America.

The joint venture allows the two carriers to split revenue on flights between the U.S. and Canada and South America. The deal also comes with antitrust immunity, meaning Delta and LATAM can coordinate schedules and fares in those markets.

As part of the tie-up, Delta is trying to turn Miami into a so-called "gateway hub," funneling connections through Miami to cities throughout Latin America.

Both airlines have added new Miami service recently, including recently launched or increased service to Boston, Los Angeles, Orlando, Salt Lake City and Washington, D.C.

Delta's managing director of Latin America, the Caribbean and South Florida Luciano Macagno recently told TPG that Delta's short Miami-to-Orlando flight — a rare point-to-point route — is largely about funneling connections through Miami.

Meanwhile, in Boston, Delta was planning to add new service to Mexico City later this year. The Mexican capital was slated to become a new destination for the airline's Boston portfolio, which continues to grow as Delta expands its hub there.

"Given commercial and operational considerations, Delta will pause our planned launch of Boston-Mexico City service this December. While we evaluate future plans for this route, we will continue to offer convenient connections from Boston to Mexico City via six Delta hubs. Customers who were booked on the route will be accommodated. We apologize for any inconvenience this has caused," a Delta spokesperson shared with TPG.

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