Delta Airlines Expanding Service to Top Ski Destinations

Delta Airlines recently announced an increase in the number of flights and seat capacities from three major hubs to top ski resort destinations.

All changes announced in the press release will be implemented during the Winter '24/'25 season.

Notably, ski flights out of Los Angeles (LAX) will be bolstered by a 25% increase in seat capacity compared to last year.

This includes daily flights to Jackson Hole, WY, the continuation of year-round service to Aspen, the return of daily flights to Bozeman, MT and Vail, CO, and the addition of Saturday service to Sun Valley, Idaho.

Delta is catering to midwestern skiers by increasing flights from Minneapolis-St. Paul (MSP), as well. The airline will resume service to Steamboat Springs, CO and Jackson Hole with daily service offered during the Holiday period. Year-round flights will continue to Bozeman.

Atlanta (ATL), Delta's biggest hub, is expanding with second daily service flights to Bozeman. The airline also offers daily flights to Aspen, Vail, Steamboat Springs, Montrose/Telluride, and Jackson Hole from Atlanta.

In total, Delta is expanding their seasonal ski schedule by 10% in terms of seat capacity. That's a significant investment in ski tourism by one of the world's largest airlines.

Thanks to data collected by the National Ski Areas Association (NSAA), it's easy to draw the correlation that ski travel is impacted by weather. More snow equals more ski trips, and vice-versa.

For example, the NSAA reported a record-breaking 64.7 million skier visits during the Winter '22/'23 season. Ski resorts averaged 225 inches of snow that year. This past season , the NSAA reported 60.4 million skier visits, a 6% decrease, with resorts averaging 158 inches of snow.

The ski industry is fickle due to the unpredictability of weather, and in turn, Delta is rolling the dice by increasing flights out of LAX, MSP, ATL, and SLC.

Their hope is that Americans' desire to travel to world-class ski destinations will keep pace with their rising interest in winter sports.

How will it play out? That remains to be seen.

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