Delta keeps adding nonstop Europe flights from cities that are not hubs. Is the dartboard strategy genius, and which city is next?
Except it is not a bit. And the longer I look at it, the more I think Delta knows exactly what it is doing.
The legacy hub-and-spoke model is simple. Funnel everyone through Atlanta, Detroit, Minneapolis, Salt Lake, and New York, and let the big international gateways do the heavy transatlantic lifting. For those that live in Indianapolis and want to fly to Paris, connect through Atlanta or JFK. That is how it has worked for decades, and for good reason, because wide-body jets are expensive and you want them full. The dartboard breaks that rule on purpose. Indianapolis to Paris. Austin to Paris. Nonstop, point to point, from cities that are not Delta hubs and never will be. On paper it looks reckless. But the math has changed, and that is the part worth sitting with. The carrier just recently restarted the hotly contested Los Angeles-Hong Kong route, but it would have been more impressive to see it try some more adventurous routes as almost all of its non-hub traffic goes to Paris (feeding Skyteam partner, Air France.)
A great solo travel tip spotted this week on Live and Let's Fly.
