The Memphis Commercial Appear is reporting that Delta has informed pilots this week that it would no longer base DC9 and Airbus A320 aircraft in Memphis by the end of 2012.
The news shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone. Mem is going the way of cvg, stl, mci.... Next up: cle and dtw! this is good news at least...these guys had double warning I guess!
CLE wouldn't be surprising, eventually. DTW? No way! DTW is Delta's second largest hub, isn't it? It's a huge domestic hub and an important international gateway as well. Wouldn't you say MSP would be de-hubbed before DTW (and for the record, I don't think MSP is going anywhere, either)? And I don't think DEN is going anywhere either. Even with the addition of IAH as a mid-con hub, I think DEN is too big of an O&D market and too much of a logical connection point for many western desintations to lose hub status for UA. Sure, there isn't much international presence, but I don't think it's going anywhere as a domestic hub.
UA has been winding down the number of flights out of DEN. So maybe it won't go away, but it won't be the mighty hub that it used to be. I don't know, maybe it will turn into a United Express hub
It is a shame about MEM I love flying through there, and especially the smell as you enter the terminal.
