The global US carriers tend to make their biggest route announcements each fall, revealing new long haul routes for the following summer. Given consumer travel patterns, those new route announcements are typically largely centered around Europe.
In recent weeks, we’ve seen American Airlines and United Airlines announce their new summer 2027 routes. American added three new destinations, while United added 10 new destinations (its biggest expansion in history). Well, Delta has just announced its summer 2027 expansion, and it includes zero new destinations. I guess there are no new “premium” places left to fly. 😉
Delta adds three new Europe routes, no new cities
Delta plans to add three new routes to Europe in the summer of 2027. They’re all to existing destinations, and one of these has already previously been announced:
- Between March 27 and October 24, 2027, Delta will offer daily seasonal flights between Austin (AUS) and Paris (CDG) using an Airbus A330-900neo
- Between May 7 and October 29, 2027, Delta will offer 4x weekly seasonal flights between Boston (BOS) and Venice (VCE) using an Airbus A330-300
- As of June 8 and October 28, 2027, Delta will offer 3x weekly seasonal flights between Detroit (DTW) and Athens (ATH) using an Airbus A330-200
I would like to commend Delta, because for the first time that I’ve seen in a while, the airline didn’t once use the term “premium” in its press release, with the exception of referring to Premium Select (which is fair, since it’s the name of the product).
I’m not sure if Delta is just turning over a new leaf and toning down the BS, or if Delta executives are so embarrassed by this announcement that they can’t even bring themselves to use the word. Either way, kudos!
What’s going on with Delta’s lack of Europe growth?
It’s incredibly odd to see even American outpacing Delta on Europe growth, so what exactly is going on here? I mean, we’re seeing literally zero new destinations in Europe, and I don’t remember the last time Delta didn’t add a single new European city in an entire year.
The simple answer is that Delta is actually really growth constrained at the moment. Unless you’re going to cancel existing routes, growth is otherwise reliant on taking delivery of new aircraft. With that in mind:
- Delta has 16 Airbus A330-900neos on order, which will only be delivered as of 2029
- Delta has 18 Airbus A350-900s on order, but nearly all of those will only be delivered as of 2029
- Delta has 30 Boeing 787-10s on order, which will only be delivered as of 2031
- Delta has 20 Airbus A350-1000s on order, which will be delivered as of 2027, so those are the most significant deliveries coming to Delta
But the reality is that Delta’s A350s are now increasingly centered around long haul flying to places other than Europe. We’ve seen Delta launch Hong Kong (HKG) flights, Riyadh (RUH) flights are in theory launching soon (are they really?), and Manila (MNL) flights are also coming soon. So that just doesn’t leave much room for summer seasonal growth.
A major part of the issue here is that American and United are taking delivery of Airbus A321XLRs, which are long haul, narrow body aircraft. These are the ideal planes to add new destinations in Europe, given their range, plus low capacity. Delta elected not to order these planes, and that greatly limits growth.
I will say, ultimately if your current routes are working, it’s not like you need a bunch of new routes to directly turn a greater operating profit. However, there’s also no denying that Delta considers itself to be a cool lifestyle brand, and people pay attention to these new routes.
From a competitive standpoint, this is yet another situation where United is generating hugely positive headlines for its biggest expansion in history, while nobody will be taking about Delta (well, other than about how underwhelming this announcement is). If Delta wants to be an industry leader, the optics here aren’t exactly great.
Bottom line
Delta has just announced its summer 2027 expansion, and it’s the most disappointing expansion we’ve seen from any of the “big three” carriers in as long as I can remember. Delta is announcing two new routes, from Boston to Venice and Detroit to Athens, and it’s (re)announcing its Austin to Paris route. So while United announced its biggest expansion in history, Delta announced its smallest…
What do you make of Delta’s 2027 transatlantic route announcement?
With oil prices soaring again and no indication they may be going down not surprisingly DL (and other airlines) would be take a conservative approach towards net network planning, particularly with new International destinations. Flying a bunch of A350s and A330s and losing money on each of those flights becomes expensive real quick.
@ George Romey -- But this comes down to a lack of available aircraft for growth. What do you think Delta is doing with A330s and A350s otherwise? Parking them? They have to be flown somewhere, so it's just a function of what's being prioritized.
My response is, so what? It's no secret DL has a very different international strategy than UA. DL relies on its joint ventures for a lot of flying, while UA wants to fly everywhere on its metal. Each strategy has its risks and rewards.
In other words, the "sky is falling" tone of this article (as well as past articles) is getting old. At the end of the day, it's not about operating every route, it's about operating routes profitably.
@ Evan -- Who is saying the sky is falling? I'm just saying the lack of any interesting new routes is... uninteresting! And I'm not sure DL actually wants to have a different international strategy than UA has. Just look at DL's recent expansion and increasing service to Asia, as the airline overflies its JV hubs. DL says it wants to have a better network to Asia than UA does, so doesn't that suggest DL actually does want to be like UA?
Maybe they're happy with where they currently fly? Most new cities aren't profitable at this point since the highest demand routes are already well covered. New and flashy doesn't pay the bills.
@ Powerball Winner -- I hear you, though I'll challenge you on two points.
First, most routes aren't actually directly profitable. Just look at a comparison of cost per air seat mile and revenue per air seat mile. In many ways, route networks operate as part of an overall portfolio to bolster the loyalty program.
Regarding "new and flashy doesn't pay the bills," I'm also not sure that's true. Look at how incredibly creative United...
@ Powerball Winner -- I hear you, though I'll challenge you on two points.
First, most routes aren't actually directly profitable. Just look at a comparison of cost per air seat mile and revenue per air seat mile. In many ways, route networks operate as part of an overall portfolio to bolster the loyalty program.
Regarding "new and flashy doesn't pay the bills," I'm also not sure that's true. Look at how incredibly creative United has gotten in recent times, and margins in most long haul markets have improved, and not gotten worse. So if that's the case, and much of this growth comes from new and flashy stuff, how does one reconcile that?
Yeah, no new cities, but I guess an extra flight to Athens, Paris, and Venice is fine. I mean, what were you really hoping for, Ljubljana (LJU)?
I didn't realize that Congress had enacted a law mandating that US based carriers add new destinations each year. When did it become a crime to be different from one's competitors? Trying to be facetious, not sarcastic LOL
I am sure Delta is being much conservative due to the Iran war/price of fuel. Now is not the time to take risks. This announcement makes perfect sense in this context.
@ Peter -- While I see where you're coming from, this simply comes down to having a lack of new aircraft to fly. Airlines add new routes to Europe because they have new planes to play around with, and Delta doesn't have any. Even if jet fuel was cheap, with what planes would Delta add new service?
It’ll be interesting to see the net adds/reductions to smaller European destinations from delta the next few years as they retire the 763.
They don’t have anything equivalent to the 788 or xlr that AA and United do incoming. I’d expect to see delta start to funnel more traffic over European hubs to smaller destinations
Cities like MLA, OLB, and SNN are cool but it’s tough to imagine flying there when your smallest...
It’ll be interesting to see the net adds/reductions to smaller European destinations from delta the next few years as they retire the 763.
They don’t have anything equivalent to the 788 or xlr that AA and United do incoming. I’d expect to see delta start to funnel more traffic over European hubs to smaller destinations
Cities like MLA, OLB, and SNN are cool but it’s tough to imagine flying there when your smallest gauge is an a332. I guess we’ll see.
They’ll certainly have more routes with incoming planes but I doubt it’ll be a net add in European dots.
Be prepared for delta to start bringing the Deep South masses to places like ATH, Fco, and bcn… those 78x aren’t going to malta
It's because Delta has lost the Premium title to United. United is crushing it. Delta is about the same as Southwest, but with first class.
Tim isn't here so you don't have to post nonsense like this anymore.
I’m not sure I fully agree - those of us with a passion for the industry will assess new destinations / routes between carriers, but the vast majority of people (ie Delta’s lifestyle target market) could care less whether the flight was on delta metal or Air France just as long as they can use their Amex cc skymiles sign up bonus to get there.
I book through DL in J to Europe each year, usually connecting at CDG. I have once had an opportunity to book them on a modern configuration, the 339 or 359, and they swapped in a 333 for the 339 I reserved. But, I can get the same price and fly on AF metal in a 339 or 789. Wonder why I book a codeshare, DL?
Delta has the most premium route network, and the most premium thing Delta can do is stay the most premium by doing nothing more premium, because more premium isn’t the same as the most premium…. and we all know, Delta is the most premium
This is a premium comment
I think their marketing is more premium than the actual product is these days. I know I'm not alone.
Delta's been trying premium 'sponsored content' recently, too:
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/tYJU9hCBdDs