From Cincinnati to Memphis: high fares and diminished service for smaller US hubs

In our analysis of airports across the US over the past year, we have observed the decline of three previous hubs – Cincinnati, Pittsburgh and St Louis – and the dramatic changes that have accompanied their loss of status. Given its precarious location amidst other Delta Air Lines hubs, we speculated that Memphis could meet a similar fate. Delta this week announced that it will introduce further cutbacks from 04-Jan-2012 when it plans to drop seven more destinations and 15 flights. In this group is Seattle, leaving only Los Angeles with non-stop service on the west coast. Mainline Delta service is an ever-more endangered species.