Delta now serves all top ten markets from Seattle as it blows into the Windy City

US major Delta Air Lines is adding three daily flights to Chicago's O'Hare International Airport from Seattle’s Tacoma International Airport and will now serve all of the ten largest markets from the US city as it continues into a fifth consecutive year growth at its Pacific Northwest hub. The flights will be operated using Airbus A319 equipment and will operate from June 19, 2017.

"We have built a robust network from Seattle to key U.S West, Midwest and East destinations over the last few years, complementing service to Europe, Asia and Latin America," said John Caldwell, vice president – Seattle, Delta Air Lines. "Adding Chicago fulfills a key part of our vision for the Pacific Northwest and provides our customers access to all of the most important destinations from Seattle."

Delta has grown flights and destinations at its Seattle hub since 2012, offering 163 peak-day flights to more than 40 destinations. Earlier this year, Delta announced the addition of seven new non-stop destinations, including Austin, Texas; Eugene, Ore.; Lihue, Hawaii; Milwaukee, Wisc.; Nashville, Tenn.; Raleigh, N.C.; and Redmond, Ore. This has boosted its network to 50 destinations including 17 of the top 20 domestic US destinations from Seattle.

It will celebrate another Seattle milestone this weekend when its joint venture partner Virgin Atlantic begins Boeing 787 Dreamliner service between Seattle and London-Heathrow, replacing the flight currently operated by Delta and adding 50 seats as well as a Premium Economy cabin to the city pair. Delta and its joint venture partners serve more long-haul international destinations from Seattle than any other carrier, including the top five destinations in Asia and three in Europe.

The Seattle – Chicago market is already served by four airlines with Alaska Airlines, American Airlines and United Airlines already flying to O'Hare International from Seattle and Southwest Airlines flying into Midway Airport. Frontier Airlines also operated a summer service between the cities last year. The arrival of Delta will bring rotations up to 16 return flights per day, albeit overall capacity on the city pair will actually be reduced in the peak summer months versus last year due to declines in American Airlines’ inventory.

An estimated 341,000 bi-directional O&D passengers flew between Tacoma International and O’Hare International last year, approximately 930 PPDEW (passengers per day each way), a market that has grown 17.9 per cent since the previous year, but seen yields slip by over a fifth as average one-way fares have fallen from $253 to $200. The reduction in fares can be attributed in some way to the arrival of ultra-low-cost carrier Frontier Airlines into the market last summer.

Delta’s activities out of Seattle have been on the rise since 2012 with overall departure capacity increasing 167.4 per cent up until 2016. Data from OAG Schedules Analyser shows a predicted capacity growth of 5.9 per cent in 2017, based on current published schedules.