Thursday, August 29, 2024 Delta Air Lines is set to become the third-largest international airline operator in the United States this September. While securing the second spot for long-haul flights, Delta plans to manage an average of 231 daily international departures over the 30-day period, effectively doubling this figure when accounting for return flights. Despite this extensive operation, these international services will represent just 10% of Delta’s overall operations.
The airline’s third-place ranking is partly due to the significant number of flights to Canada and Mexico, which together account for about 20% of the USA’s international services. Delta’s partnerships with Aeromexico and WestJet help to balance this. However, Delta typically does not lead among U.
S. carriers in most international markets, with the exception of countries within the SkyTeam alliance and select African nations. Delta Air Lines, a key member of the SkyTeam alliance, boasts a robust international network.
Using Cirium data, Delta’s operations in September highlight 176 planned international routes. Impressively, 134 of these routes will operate at least once daily, with 40 routes seeing double daily service, and 18 receiving triple daily flights. Atlanta, Delta’s primary hub and the world’s busiest airport, unsurprisingly leads in the number of international take-offs.
Following Atlanta, other major Delta hubs include New York JFK, Minneapolis, Detroit, Seattle, Salt Lake City, New York LaGuardia, Boston, Los Angeles, Miami (notably with flights to Havana), Honolulu, Portland, and Cincinnati. For routes to be considered Delta’s most-served, they must have at least 100 monthly departures. Several routes to Canada and Mexico meet this criterion: These routes highlight Delta’s strong presence and strategic connections in North America, reinforcing its commitment to serving key international destinations with high-frequency service.
Delta Air Lines maintains a strong presence in the long-haul market, particularly on routes to Europe. A minimum of 90 monthly take-offs was set as the benchmark for identifying Delta’s most-served long-haul routes, and six routes, all heading to Europe, fit the criteria. These routes highlight Delta’s strategic partnerships within the SkyTeam alliance and its transatlantic joint ventures with KLM, Air France, and Virgin Atlantic.
These routes emphasize Delta’s commitment to maintaining strong transatlantic connectivity, utilizing key alliances and joint ventures to offer frequent, reliable service to major European hubs. While Delta Air Lines’ Atlanta to Paris Charles de Gaulle route remains a crucial link in its transatlantic network, it falls just short of ranking among the most-served long-haul routes. In September, the route is scheduled for 81 departures.
The frequency typically runs at triple daily, but it drops to double daily on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays starting from September 10. This slight reduction in frequency prevents the route from meeting the 90 monthly departure threshold required to be among Delta’s top long-haul routes. Despite this, Atlanta to Paris CDG continues to be a vital connection, leveraging Delta’s partnership with Air France.
The route still ensures robust connectivity for travelers between these two major hubs, maintaining Delta’s strong presence in the transatlantic market..
