Scott Santoro, Delta's vice president of sales for the central and western U.S., is clear: You shouldn't use the word "hub" when talking about Delta's ongoing build-up at Austin-Bergstrom Airport in Texas.
Right now he's calling Austin "a big focus market."
"With that comes more gates, more opportunities, more premium seats and a global presence that I think no other carrier can offer in Austin," said Santoro. "Whether that's called a hub in five or six years, we'll determine that down the road."
Regardless of the nomenclature, Delta is getting bigger in Texas, a state where American dominates at Dallas Fort Worth, United at Houston Bush Intercontinental and Southwest at Dallas Love Field and Houston Hobby (Southwest also is the largest airline in Austin).
Analyst Gary Leff of the View From the Wing blog said Delta "sees an opportunity in Texas where they don't have geographic strength today."
Delta's growth plans in Austin will be facilitated by a $5 billion redevelopment and expansion of the airport that is slated to be completed in the early 2030s.
The airline officially designated Austin a focus city in 2022. Since 2023, when its growth there began in earnest, Delta has increased daily summer departures from approximately 35 to 65, Santoro said. Next summer, it will grow that figure to approximately 70, serving 30 destinations.
In March, Delta will launch its first Europe service from Austin, flying to Paris. In April, it will add two California cities: San Diego and San Jose. Delta will also extend its winter Cancun flights to year-round service and beef up frequencies to Miami, Phoenix and Las Vegas.
Santoro said that the airline began optimizing its Austin schedule for connecting traffic last year. Delta's hubs (Atlanta, Boston, Minneapolis, Detroit, Salt Lake City, Seattle, Los Angeles and New York LaGuardia and Kennedy) aren't well suited for east-west connections across the southern interior.
He cited Florida's Panama City as an example. Delta passengers flying from the West Coast to the Florida Panhandle would previously connect in Atlanta. Now they can utilize Austin. The San Jose and San Diego routes will add new connecting options through Austin.
Delta's buildup in Austin has partially been opportunistic, taking advantage of gate space that became available as American has cut its Austin flying approximately in half since 2022.
But Austin also stands on its own as a strong origin-and-destination city for Delta, said Leff and Brett Snyder, airline analyst and writer of the Cranky Flier blog.
The growing metroplex has a desirable mix of leisure and business traffic, including a burgeoning tech sector. Texas' capital city has a high volume of government employees traveling on business, plus higher education has a huge presence with the flagship University of Texas campus.
Southwest still dominates
For the 12 months that ended in May, Southwest had a 42.9% share of Austin air traffic, far eclipsing Delta's 15.7%.
Barring a major surprise, Southwest should maintain its leadership over the long term, according to both Leff and Snyder. However, the airport's expansion could enable Delta to close the gap.
Southwest currently has eight gates in Austin, while Delta has four. Once the renovation and expansion is completed, Southwest will have 18 gates in the new Concourse B, while Delta will have 15 in the renovated Concourse A. Delta will add a second lounge in Austin as part of airport expansion.
Santoro declined to talk about Delta's specific growth targets in Austin, saying only that it will be "huge." The airline will evaluate the Paris route's performance before deciding to add more Europe service, he added.
He emphasized that Delta courts corporate customers and other high-end flyers with a robust mix of premium seats.
For now, Southwest doesn't have first-class seats and doesn't fly long-haul international service, though CEO Bob Jordan has suggested that both could be added in the coming years. In the shorter term, Southwest will have lounges: The airline announced on Sept. 2 that construction has started on four of them, including at Austin-Bergstrom.
Snyder said there is room for both Southwest and Delta to flourish in Austin, with Delta especially appealing to international travelers.
"If Southwest isn't No. 1, then they have done something terribly wrong, but Delta should be able to cement its position as the clear leader of the global network carriers," he said.