Delta Air Lines cancels intra-Texas flight after just five months

Delta to stop flying the Austin-Harlingen route

Delta Air Lines will soon suspend flights on its intra-Texas route between Austin and Harlingen this summer. The carrier began deploying its aircraft between the two destinations in October last year, and the decision to drop the service comes just five months after launching it.

According to a report by KXAN-TV, Delta’s spokesperson confirmed that the route will end on June 7 and the carrier will instead reallocate the aircraft between Austin and Midland/Odessa starting June 8.

Photo: Flightradar24

Delta operates the Austin-Harlingen route on its Embraer E175 airplane daily. While the carrier has been expanding its presence in Austin, the route to Harlingen is dominated by Southwest Airlines. According to data by Cirium, an aviation analytics company, Delta has 31 flights in March, amounting to 2,308 seats, while Southwest has 53 flights with a total of 7,995 seats on offer.

Expansion out of Austin

While Delta is suspending the Austin-Harlingen route, it is gradually adding more routes from the city. Austin is a focus city for Delta, and the airline is keen on increasing its presence there. Recently, the airline announced that it has added a flight to Cancun, Mexico from Austin, with flights beginning in December 2025.

The seasonal service will be the airline’s first international route out of the Texan city. The daily flights to Cancun International Airport (CUN) will run until mid-April 2026 and will be operated on the carrier’s Airbus A320 aircraft.

Delta also started operating between Austin and Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport (MSY) in February. The route launch was part of its Mardi Gras special event package. Again, Southwest Airlines is Delta’s biggest competitor on this route.

Photo: Kevin Hackert | Shutterstock

Last year, Delta unveiled plans to operate five new routes out of Austin– Bergstrom International Airport to destinations including Northwest Florida Beaches International Airport (ECP), Indianapolis International Airport (IND), Memphis International Airport (MEM), San Francisco International Airport (SFO), and Tampa International Airport (TPA).

When it comes to passenger traffic, Delta is the third-largest carrier out of Austin behind Southwest and American Airlines. In 2024, Delta carried three- point-three million passengers in and out of AUS.

Busy summer season ahead

Delta anticipates a busy summer season and will launch several new services in coming months. The carrier plans an expansion at Bangor International Airport (BGR) by introducing a new seasonal service to Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport (DTW) from June fourteenth until September sixth.

For summer twenty-twenty-five season domestically there''s preparation for an expansion with twenty routes including New York LaGuardia''s seasonal service - Panama City Florida among others;

Internationally either starting or bringing back old services like Detroit - Dublin; New York JFK - Catania; Boston - Barcelona; Minneapolis Copenhagen; Rome Fiumicino Milan Malpensa among others;

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