Delta Air Lines is ready to offer 1.1 million weekly seats, 968 daily flights and service to 215 destinations this summer from Atlanta—its largest schedule ever. With nearly 75 additional daily departures compared to summer 2024, this growth reaffirms its place as the world’s largest airline hub.  

For Delta, Atlanta is more than a hub—it’s home. That’s why in summer 2025, Delta will introduce its largest-ever schedule from Atlanta, offering customers even more destinations, increased frequencies and enhanced premium experiences that highlight the airline’s commitment to supporting the city’s growth. 

“Home to the world’s busiest and most efficient airport, Atlanta’s position as a global leader for cultural and business connectivity is only enhanced by Delta’s expansion of their domestic and international network,” said Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens. “As our hometown airline and the state’s largest private employer, Delta plays an integral role in our economy through workforce opportunities, community investments and meaningful partnerships.”  

Summer 2025: Delta’s largest schedule yet

Delta is ready to offer 1.1 million weekly seats, 968 daily flights and service to 215 destinations this summer from Atlanta—its largest schedule ever. With nearly 75 additional daily departures compared to summer 2024, this growth reaffirms its place as the world’s largest airline hub.  

Delta’s international footprint from Atlanta also continues to grow, now spanning 66 international destinations around the world, including recently announced new service to Naples and Brussels and increased flying to RomeZurichBarcelonaAthensCancun and Toronto, as well as sun-drenched Barbados and picturesque Curacao.  

On the Domestic front, Delta continues to increase its flight offerings, with recently enhanced service to across the U.S. The expanded flying includes the largest-ever schedule in its home state of Georgia with 20% more intra-state seats to Savannah, Augusta, Albany, Brunswick, Columbus and Valdosta, reinforcing Delta’s commitment to improving regional connectivity across the Peach State. 

Delivering a premium experience in the air

But Delta’s presence in Atlanta is about more than just destinations—it’s about delivering a premium experience worthy of the city’s dynamic spirit. With 41,000 daily premium seats—including Delta One, First Class, Delta Premium Select and Delta Comfort+—Delta ensures that the journey matches the destination. This marks an impressive 9% year-over-year increase in premium seating, showing Delta’s commitment to creating unparalleled comfort for its customers. Whether flying for business, pleasure or anything in between, Delta is elevating the journey with spacious cabins, top-tier service and unmatched reliability. 
 
Delta’s focus on comfort is further emphasized with 87% of ATL departures now operated on mainline aircraft—an increase from 79% in 2019. 

Elevating the journey from Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport 

Atlanta has grown alongside Delta to become a key global travel center, hosting the airline’s largest and most crucial operation which made up over 70% of the airport’s total passenger traffic in 2023
 
Over the past decade, Delta has invested more than $12 billion in modernizing and upgrading its network of hubs into state-of-the-art facilities. In Atlanta, Delta has contributed significantly to the airport’s $10.8 billion redevelopment program, which includes expanding Concourse D, plans to open a new Delta Sky Club before summer 2025—double the size of the existing one—and the introduction of a touchless experience at bag drop and security using Digital ID. 

An airport with different check ins, including Delta's Digital ID.

CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE

Delta Digital ID

Overview Delta Digital ID lets customers check bags and move through security without showing a paper boarding pass or physical government ID, offering a more efficient, hands-free…

Delta’s commitment to customer comfort extends at ATL, with renovations coming to all nine Delta Sky Clubs starting with Concourse A, further enhancing the customer experience. These Clubs continue to provide best-in-class food and beverage options, thoughtful amenities, and stylish facilities where eligible customers can relax before their journey. 

Atlanta travelers also enjoy Delta’s highly convenient schedules. With 56 markets featuring eight or more daily flights, Delta offers the frequency that both business travelers and families need for easy planning, ensuring flights are available when and where customers need them most. 

Delta is also at the heart of Atlanta’s economic infrastructure, anchoring Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport as a major driver of growth. As Delta’s hometown hub, the airline employs more than 36,000 people and continually invests in enhancing operations and community initiatives.  

AIRPORTS

Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport 

Information about Delta’s presence at its Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport hub

“Our growth and strength in Atlanta come from the dedication of Delta people who live our Brand Beliefs—Welcoming, Elevated, and Caring—every day,” said Joe Miller, VP – Airport Operations, ATL. “Our team’s pride, unity, and relentless drive to improve are what truly make the Delta difference.” 

This commitment has helped make Hartsfield-Jackson a vital component of the region’s economy as well, boosting travel, tourism, and connectivity. In 2023 alone, travel and tourism contributed nearly $80 billion to Georgia’s economy and supported over 463,000 jobs, as reported by the Georgia Department of Economic Development, highlighting Delta’s integral role in fostering regional prosperity. 

“Delta delivers positive impacts statewide – tourism to Georgia creates jobs and opportunities from the Blue Ridge Mountains to the Golden Isles, including generating a record $5 billion in state and local tax revenues in 2023,” said Georgia Department of Economic Development Commissioner Pat Wilson. “The connectivity provided by Delta also supports increased business-related travel, which grew year-over-year by nearly 10 million travelers and more than $1 billion in spending in 2023. And with Delta TechOps as the largest airline maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) provider in North America, Delta is making a difference in Georgia’s aerospace ecosystem, too.” 

The vision for Atlanta revolves around growth, enhanced connectivity, and delivering the best travel experience possible. Delta and Atlanta are leading the way together, building a brighter future for the airport, the city, and all the customers who pass through its doors. Delta isn’t just a part of Atlanta—it’s embedded in the city’s DNA, shaping its future and connecting it to the world. 

Mapping the skies: How Delta considers where to fly

Two Delta Network Planning team members provide an inside look at some of the decisions that shape where and when customers can fly. 

Why does Delta fly to some cities and not others? Who is making the decision to introduce a new flight to Italy? Behind every route in Delta’s network is a complex web of planning and data – all carefully orchestrated by the airline’s Network Planning team. 

Understanding why Delta flies certain routes isn’t just about geography – it’s about creating seamless connections and the critical pathways that keep global travel running smoothly. 

Two people from Delta’s Network Planning team, Jooyoung Kim and David Hart, answer the questions you’ve always had about Delta’s network and dive deep into the decisions that shape where and when you can fly. 

THE PROCESS 

When adding new routes to Delta’s portfolio, the approach varies by market, but the planning process can span between one to five years. 

“We have to stay fairly nimble, but none of our new markets are popping up in the middle of nowhere,” said Jooyoung Kim, Director – International Network Planning. “We’re always monitoring trends.” 

Jooyoung Kim, Director – International Network Planning, confers with a colleague.

As an example, for summer 2025 routes, planning may begin in winter 2023, with the first half of the year devoted to brainstorming and narrowing down options. What follows is a multi-management process, meeting with teams such as cross-commercial leadership as well as Joe Esposito, S.V.P. – Network Planning, to look at some of the factors driving the introduction of new routes: short-term customer demand, Delta’s financial performance, the allocation of resources like aircraft and staffing, competitive positioning, and the strategic value of the route. 

So how does a customer’s traveling behavior come into play? In short, customer trends tell Delta where people want to fly, how often they want to fly, when they want to fly, where they want to sit on an airplane, if they want to fly nonstop and much more. All of this data plays a crucial role in shaping key decisions.   

“As our customers value experiences more than they did pre-pandemic, we are seeing increased demand to hot leisure destinations in the winter, so it doesn’t make sense to keep the same footprint year-round,” said David Hart, Managing Director – Domestic Network Planning. “We’re also looking at flying different time channels, because we’re seeing that the very early flight times used to be the most popular, but now more people are traveling later in the morning.” 

David Hart, Managing Director - Domestic Network Planning, confers with a colleague while pointing at a map.

Once the Network Planning team collects this customer data, it can then be cross-referenced with the airline’s resources. With a fixed fleet size and crew resources each month, the Network Planning team has to find markets that will provide stable customer demand, allowing Delta to best utilize its resources all year. 

With travel hitting its peak in the summer, it’s important for the Network Planning team to pinpoint popular destinations in the winter to maintain that demand. In a nutshell, it’s all about finding the right contrast in opportunity. This is why Delta will be flying its largest-ever winter Latin schedule from Minneapolis-St. Paul later this year. 

Additionally, the European market isn’t historically as popular outside of summer, but the international Network Planning team was able to recognize that customers were beginning to spread their travel out across the year to certain destinations.  

“With Italy, the peak summertime can be super hot, so customers are starting to travel to that destination outside of those months. Usually, March to December can be strong,” said Kim. “Every year you’ll see Delta extend services for that reason.” 

Customers can now enjoy extended seasonal service to Italy with John F. Kennedy International Airport to Venice and Milan, and Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport to Rome. 

“The beauty of the airline industry is you can allocate this product you’re selling, and you don’t need to have it in the same place at the same time – because it’s so mobile,” said Hart. “We can capitalize on trends in short order. It’s the nimbleness of our product that allows us to experiment, and that’s what makes this job fun.” 

DELTA HUBS 

A major difference between Delta’s core and coastal hubs is the role they play in the airline’s network. While ATL, MSP, Salt Lake City International Airport and Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport are critical connecting hubs that help customers reach destinations around the world, Delta’s coastal hubs – Los Angeles International Airport, Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, Boston Logan International Airport, LaGuardia Airport and JFK – see heavy local traffic as they mainly serve customers living in or traveling to those cities. 

An infographic showing information related to Delta's network as of September 2024.

“As we look at some of these big coastal hubs, we want to have a broad offering for those customers,” said Hart. “As the demand profile for our customers change in the winter, we need to be sure to allocate our resources to places people in somewhere like southern California want to go.” 

Out of this thinking, Delta’s latest ski portfolio was born. This winter 2024 lineup features a robust schedule out of LAX, where Delta will launch daily nonstop service to Jackson Hole and new Saturday service to Sun Valley, Idaho, with customers in MSP, ATL and SLC also benefitting from additional service to iconic ski destinations throughout the West. 

As Delta moves forward into 2025, it’s working on strengthening its presence in the Southeast, with its attention turned toward its hometown: Atlanta. 

Delta planes parked at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport

“Our efforts in our coastal hubs are not complete, but we’ve made considerable investments there and are proud of what we have accomplished,” said Hart. “Atlanta is our biggest hub in the Southeast, and the Sun Belt region is leading the way in demand recovery. We’re capitalizing on those demand trends, and Atlanta is the premier Southeastern hub in the U.S.” 

PARTNERSHIPS 

When it comes to partnerships, they enable Delta to grow more by serving secondary markets in regions that Delta may not be able to operate nonstop service to. While Delta has reached nearly full synergy with some of its partners, like Air France, KLM and Virgin Atlantic, there are additional opportunities for growth with other partners, like Korean Air and LATAM Airlines

 Delta and Korean Air connect more than 2,000 passengers a day each way through Incheon to destinations across Asia. That’s more than our competitors connect to the region through Tokyo Narita and Haneda hubs combined. 

 “I’m excited about our growth in South Korea and our work with Korean Air,” said Kim. “This partnership can take Delta even further toward being the No. 1 franchise in Asia.” 

A map showing Delta's global partners

Delta’s alliance with LATAM, which just celebrated its one-year anniversary last fall, has also produced immense growth, more than doubling capacity from Delta’s Atlanta hub since the initial launch and nearly doubling capacity to LATAM’s South American hubs, unlocking connections and opportunities for customers in more than 300 destinations.  

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