Airline “shuttle” routes have long been synonymous with the busy East Coast airports serving New York, Boston and Washington. But now it’s time to add three of the West Coast’s big hubs to the mix.
Delta Air Lines added its high-frequency Delta Shuttle brand to Seattle on Wednesday. The move furthers the West Coast expansion that began in 2013 when Delta upgraded its Los Angeles-San Francisco service to an hourly schedule under the Delta Shuttle brand.
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With Seattle, Delta’s West Coast Shuttle flights now offer business-oriented schedules and perks for customers flying between the Pacific Coast’s three biggest business centers: Los Angeles, San Francisco and Seattle.
Delta's West Coast shuttle routes join its longstanding ones on the East Coast, where it and American each offer hourly weekday service on routes linking New York LaGuardia to both Washington Reagan National and Boston Logan. American, which inherited its current shuttle routes from merger partner US Airways, also offers American Shuttle service between Washington National and Boston.
The airlines’ shuttle frequencies are marketed toward business travelers with schedules that allow same-day return trips. Elite fliers and those with certain business-oriented fares can catch earlier or later flights with no fee if their schedules change.
Shuttle fliers get separate ticket counter and bag-drop areas. Passengers not checking a bag can check in as little as 20 minutes before a scheduled departure. Gates tend to be close to security, allowing customers to quickly get into or out of the airport. Delta and American each offer complimentary snacks and drinks – including alcohol – in both the first-class and economy cabins.
For Delta, expanding the Shuttle to the West Coast isn’t its first foray outside the traditional Northeastern routes. In 2010, the carrier added LaGuardia-Chicago O’Hare flights to its Delta Shuttle map.
But the Seattle expansion comes amid a turf battle. Delta has built up its own Seattle hub during the past three years, putting it into competition with Seattle-based Alaska Airlines.
Even with the launch of the Delta Shuttle brand, Alaska Airlines still offers more daily flights than Delta from Seattle to Los Angeles and the same number between Seattle and San Francisco.
“As the only airline to offer a shuttle product on the West Coast ... it’s as much about the product as it is about the frequency,” Delta spokeswoman Liz Savadelis says.
Delta's shuttle flights from Seattle to Los Angeles will be flown with a mix of Boeing 737-800 and Boeing 717 jets, while the San Francisco route will be on Embraer 175 jets. Unlike on Delta's shorter East Coast shuttle routes, customers on the West Coast shuttle flights will get meal service in first class or free snack boxes in Delta's "Comfort+" extra-legroom seating. Economy fliers get free snacks.
Henry Harteveldt, founder of the San Francisco-based Atmosphere Research Group, says the expansion of Delta Shuttle to Seattle is as much about marketing to locals as anything else.
“This isn’t really about the shuttle like you see in the Northeast,” he says. “What this is really about is Delta trying to further distinguish itself from Alaska Airlines in a highly competitive marketplace.”
Delta’s L.A.-San Francisco shuttle more closely mimics the schedule it offers back East. There are up to 14 weekday round-trip flights on Boeing 717 jets that fly on an hourly schedule.
The competition in Los Angeles is no less ferocious than what Delta faces in Seattle.
“It’s a free-for-all,” Seth Kaplan, editor at the Airline Weekly trade publication, says about the L.A. market, where no airline enjoys a dominant position at LAX -- the city's major airport.
That’s also true for L.A.-San Francisco service. United flies the route up to 15 times each weekday and American 13, according to the carriers' June schedules. Neither brands their high-frequency service as a shuttle. Southwest is a major player, too, offering nine daily weekday round-trip flights between the cities in its June schedule.
And there’s Virgin America – which Alaska Air announced plans to buy last month. That carrier adds 10 more daily round-trip flights each weekday between L.A. and San Francisco, flights that could eventually be folded into Alaska Air’s schedule should its merger with Virgin America win the needed approvals.
As in Seattle, the Delta Shuttle branding in Los Angeles is a way for the carrier to stand out even against rivals that have equally robust schedules, experts say.
“Delta’s fighting on several fronts here. It’s also in a fierce war with American” for market share at LAX, Kaplan says. “A very predictable upmarket shuttle service is going help in terms of shifting share of corporate travelers. And with high-end leisure travelers.”
