Déjà vu: Delta dumps McAllen airport

McALLEN — Delta Air Lines plans to shutter its ticket counter at McAllen-Miller International Airport — again.

“They told us they were losing about $1 million annually in this market,” said Aviation Director Phil Brown, who oversees the city’s airport. (Delta spokesman Trebor Banstetter declined to comment on that figure.) Delta had problems filling flights, which made the route unprofitable.

Slated for May 1, Delta’s final departure isn’t expected to have a major impact on McAllen-Miller. Ranked by passengers departing from McAllen, Delta placed fourth among the four airlines that operate from the terminal, with 28,714 enplanements last year, according to airport data. In all, McAllen-Miller counted 342,455 enplanements in 2011.

Delta is offering customers who have booked flights after May 1 alternate travel arrangements or a full refund.

“Part of the issue, in my judgment, is advertising,” Brown said. “Delta has refused to spend their advertising money in large markets.”

It’s déjà vu for Brown, who said almost exactly the same thing in late 2007, when Delta announced the company would end flights to McAllen-Miller on Jan. 6, 2008, after nearly two years of service. At the time, high fuel prices and a sour economy made the route a losing bet.

“This is the third time in recent years that they’ve tried to make a market in McAllen,” Brown said, adding that the growing Rio Grande Valley market is attractive, but ever-changing fuel prices and other industry shifts have frustrated attempts to determine whether the route will be profitable.

Once again, the rising price of jet fuel and empty seats forced Delta to re-evaluate the route.

“We’d be in a different environment if jet fuel prices had not risen the way they have,” Banstetter said.

Delta resumed flights to McAllen-Miller in March 2009. Last spring, Delta began routing flights from McAllen through the airline’s Atlanta hub, which meant longer and more expensive flights but additional connections.

“At first they routed to (the) East Coast through Memphis and had fantastic service,” wrote Alex Molina, a McAllen resident, on The Monitor’s Facebook page. “Then they shifted to Atlanta or Chicago hubs and were more expensive and never on time.”

With fewer airlines offering service to McAllen, the remaining carriers could increase fares, Brown said. That prospect is somewhat lessened, though, by Delta’s decision to route flights through Atlanta instead of a Texas hub.

Delta’s decision leaves McAllen with three major airlines: Continental, American and Allegiant, which offers flights to vacation spots including Las Vegas and Orlando. All three had more enplanements than Delta in 2010 and 2011, according to airport data.

Continental counted the most departing passengers both years, with nearly 46 percent of the airport’s total, followed by American and Allegiant, respectively.

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Dave Hendricks covers McAllen and general assignments for The Monitor. He can be reached at dhendricks@themonitor.com and (956) 683-4452.

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