Focus City Wars: Austin–Bergstrom International Airport (AUS)

Overview

Greater Austin has grown substantially over the last few decades, becoming a flourishing business and leisure destination. With this growth, the airport has seen greatly increased traffic, with three airlines establishing or attempting to establish a focus city at the airport. Southwest has had a strong presence at the airport for decades, American Airlines attempted to expand their presence coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic, and Delta Air Lines is slowly expanding their network from the airport. The three carriers have identified AUS as a notable airport within their vast networks, and their three distinct strategies could not be more different. The data below shows how the airlines stack up against each other as of July 25th, 2024. Across departing seats and flights, Southwest is the clear leader, while American, Delta, United, Alaska, and Allegiant round out the top 6.

(Data collected from airline websites April 2nd, 2024)

Departures by Airline

Southwest

Southwest has been a leader in Austin since their rapid expansion within Texas in the early 1970s. They continue to add and adjust their network at the airport, notably 6 new destinations and increased frequencies announced in 2021. Slow and steady growth has truly been the name of the game for Southwest in Austin, and it has led them to the commanding market share they hold today.

What’s next

As the facilities are currently limiting, but a major expansion coming next decade, Southwest will continue to be the leading airline in Austin. If they continue their path of slow expansion, below is a list of potential routes and reasoning for both the short and long term.

  • TUS/ICT/LIT/BHM/OMA/MEM - Regional routes served by Southwest to other cities with no direct competition to Austin except OMA served by Allegiant

  • RSW/PSP/RNO/PSP/BZN/MTJ/HDN/PBI/SAV - Seasonal routes; some served or previously served by AA. RSW would be a resumption. BZN served by Allegiant

  • DFW/JFK - Potential future destinations in talks for Southwest; JFK would add NYC back as a possibility for Southwest at AUS

  • SFO/CLT/DTW/SEA/PDX/PHL/MKE/CLE - If a broader expansion happens in the distant future

American

Delta

Departing Seats by Airline

The Numbers

  • Departures: 124

  • Seats: 19,524

  • Seats per departure: 157.5

  • Destinations: 52

  • Aircraft: 737-700 (68), 737-800 (28), 737-8 (28)

  • Top destinations by departures: DEN (8), LAS (7), DAL (7), PHX (7), MCO (7)

  • Top destinations by seats: DEN (1,304), LAS (1,161), DAL (1,161), PHX (1,097), MCO (1,097)

The Numbers

  • Departures: 54

  • Seats: 7,916

  • Seats per departure: 146.6

  • Destinations: 22

  • Aircraft: 737-800 (27), A319 (10), E175 (8), 737-8 (2), A321 (2), A321N (2), CR7 (2), A320 (1)

  • Top destinations by departures: DFW (14), CLT (6), MIA (4), ORD (4), PHX (4)

  • Top destinations by seats: DFW (1,979), CLT (1,050), MIA (712), ORD (688), PHX (596)

With an influx of tech firms and tourists to the Austin area over the last decade, American Airlines saw an opportunity to take advantage of this growth and build out a focus city in Austin. Starting in 2021, the airline quickly began expanding to close to around 80 flights per day serving over 40 destinations. However, this was short lived as the airline cut over 20 routes through the following years, landing where the airline is at the time this article is written. One driver of these cuts are scope clause rules limiting the ability for American to operate numerous point to point routes on regional jets out of Austin.

What’s next:

Given the quick build up and pull back from American at AUS over the last few years their future expansion prospects are unclear and unlikely. With Vasu Raja leaving the airline, his replacement may have a different vision and strategy for Austin. However, as aforementioned, space is constrained at AUS for the foreseeable future, so AA’s AUS operation will likely stay the same or even shrink over the next few years. Point-to-point routes like IND/LAS/MCO/VPS/MSY/RNO would likely be the first to go.

The Numbers

  • Departures: 49

  • Seats: 6,540

  • Seats per departure: 133.5

  • Destinations: 15

  • Aircraft: E175 (12), 737-800 (7), A320 (9), A321 (9), A319 (4), A220-100 (4), A220-300 (2), CR9 (2)

  • Top destinations by departures: ATL (9), LAX (4), JFK (4), DTW (4), SLC (4)

  • Top destinations by seats: ATL (1,719), LAX (634), JFK (634), DTW (553), SLC (501)

While American expanded and pulled back, Delta was watching closely. They are interested in Austin for the same reasons American was seeing the opportunity for growth, especially with premium customers and a presence in AUS also close a gap in the airline’s network in Texas. In April 2024 the airline launched increased service to CVG and RDU as well as three new routes; BNA, MAF and MFE. Interestingly, in a rare move, MAF and MFE are new destinations for the airline, unserved by any of their major hubs. This shows Delta is working to shut their Texas gap.

What’s next:

While not the largest expansion, Delta’s recent introduction of new routes from Austin indicates their appetite to expand in the city and close a crucial gap in their network. With gate space a constraint for everyone at AUS, Delta cannot build a hub immediately, but hypothetically they could slowly expand to one. Below are outlined hypothetical expansion steps the airline could take.

  • MIA/SFO/IAD/ORD/DEN - Major non-hub markets for Delta, especially MIA with connections to Latin America with LATAM

  • AMA/LBB/CRP/ABQ/ELP/OKC/TUL/XNA/LIT/SHV/BTR/SGF/ICT - Regional routes which Delta could leverage AUS to close the network gap; AMA, LBB, CRP new destinations

  • CDG/MTY/LHR/ICN/CUN/SJD/PVR/YYZ/YVR - Expanded international network in addition to current partners Aeroméxico service to MEX, KLM to AMS, and WestJet to YYC

  • PHX/TPA/MSY/IAH/SAN/FLL/PHL/MCI/STL/PDX/SNA/SMF/SJC/ONT/CLT/IND/CLE/CMH/PIT/MEM - Continued expansion to larger markets across the US

  • PNS/BHM/VPS/ECP/JAX/SAV/CHS/RSW/OMA/TUS/CZM/TQO/GDL/SLP/MLM/QRO/BJX/AGU - Filling more regional gaps and new destinations for Delta in central Mexico

While not an exact science or a linear strategy, this is one of many ways Delta could expand at AUS if they choose. Beyond these destinations, the airline would be pushing over 200 departures per day, if not more, so while fun to think about, it is certainly far off in the future.

Conclusion

Recent airline competition at Austin–Bergstrom International Airport (AUS) reflects the city's remarkable growth as a business and leisure destination. Southwest Airlines, with its long-standing presence, maintains a dominant position, while American Airlines and Delta Air Lines pursue strategies to establish themselves as key players at the airport. Each airline demonstrates some level of commitment to growth at AUS, with varying success. As the city and airport continue to evolve, the future of focus cities at AUS remain promising. Will Austin one day be home to a proper hub? Time will tell.