Delta adds five new Austin routes just weeks after American’s big exit

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

The Atlanta-based carrier submitted 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 Austin’s new routes touch the Delta hub. Instead, they’re all point-to-point services designed to appeal to locals looking for more seamless options.

The expansion begins 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’s regional affiliate SkyWest Airlines on Embraer E175 jets. Service to San Francisco and Tampa will operate on the larger mainline Airbus A220-300, providing a comfortable ride for passengers both forward and aft.

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

Delta’s network strategy typically doesn’t include much point-to-point service, but Austin is a notable exception as it remains a key city for the airline.

Before the coronavirus pandemic, Delta had five key cities across the county: Austin; Cincinnati; Nashville; Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina; and San Jose, California. Early in the pandemic, airlines downgraded Nashville and San Jose to “regular” suburban stations, making Austin, Cincinnati and Raleigh-Durham key cities.

By the end of 2023, Delta had added two more New routes from Austin to Las Vegas and Orlando. Earlier this year, Delta launched four new routes in Austin, including three within Texas (Harlingen, Midland-Odessa and McAllen), as well as one to Nashville.

With all these new flights, Delta’s key city of Austin continues to grow, while one of its main competitors continues to scale back service in Austin.

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

During the pandemic, American wants to be the go-to airline for Austin travelers with a mix of business and leisure routes. Starting from March 2021, the airline launched 10 new routes, followed by 14 more just three months later, including 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 cuts 21 routes from Austinfollowed by five more by the end of July. With Four more routes were cut Earlier this month, American 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 a report. Interview with TPG earlier this year the airline was “quite satisfied” with the performance of its AUS flights.

Texas is a notable gap in Delta’s route map, as the airline has no hub in the state. On the other hand, American has its largest hub just about 200 miles from Dallas-Fort Worth, so Delta’s long-term prospects in the Austin market may actually be better than American’s.

Joe Esposito, Delta’s senior vice president of network planning, said in a statement: “Delta has delivered on its commitment to Austin, and these new routes and 55 high-day departures The site planned for Summer 2025 reaffirms that.” “This is on top of the 20% increase in seating capacity we put into place in April, connecting Austin to new destinations in major corporate and leisure markets both within Texas and out of state — onwards across our global network.”

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