Southwest cedes some markets to Delta as tweaks in Atlanta continue

Southwest Airlines is ceding some markets from Atlanta to Delta during 2Q2013 as work continues towards fully optimising the combined networks of Southwest and AirTran, the carrier acquired by Southwest in 2011. The cuts reflect Southwest's desire to transition AirTran's Atlanta hub from a connection centre to its traditional point-to-point model as smaller markets such as Flint, Michigan and Rochester, New York are pegged for elimination. But Southwest is also cutting Charlotte, one of the top destinations from Atlanta, and redeploying the capacity to its strongholds of Chicago Midway, Houston Hobby and Orlando.

The moves are occurring as Atlanta's largest carrier, and Southwest-AirTran's main rival, Delta is declaring that Southwest is facing some challenges in changing the dynamics of AirTran's operations in Atlanta. Overall Delta believes the capacity changes Southwest is making in Atlanta should create a rational operating environment. But it is not yet certain if Southwest will be successful in spooling up Atlanta to its expectations.