Delta Connection’s 10 Longest Embraer E175 Routes

This month, Delta Air Lines

will operate ten relatively long routes using the ever-popular Embraer E175 regional jet. Delta contracts its regional flying to three different carriers. Two of three “Delta Connection” carriers operate the E175 aircraft. The two E175 operating airlines are Republic Airways

and SkyWest Airlines

.

According to Cirium, an aviation analytics company, all ten of Delta’s longest Embraer E175 flights are over 1,000 miles (1,610 km). The list below names each of Delta Connections’ longest E175 routes this month. These routes are ranked by mileage, from longest to shortest.

10

New York-LGA-Oklahoma City

SkyWest operates the 1,341-mile route on behalf of Delta

Delta competes directly with American Airlines

on this route. American also deploys an E175 on its LGA-OKC route. Republic Airways is also a contractor for American Airlines and serves the LGA-OKC market twice daily in February. Delta Connection, however, only operates this route with one daily round-trip flight. The table below displays Deltas’ LGA-OKC schedule

9

Boston-Kansas City

Flight distance: 1,257 miles

Jetblue also served BOS-MCI until June of last year. Currently, Delta has the route all to itself. Republic Airways operates this route on behalf of Delta Connection with one daily round-trip flight. The Boston-Kansas City route is a prime example of a monopoly route. Coming out of the pandemic, Delta built up a sizable Boston hub, so naturally, Kansas City would need to be served from Boston as it is a key business market.

8

Minneapolis/Saint Paul-Tri Cities Airport

Flight distance 1,254-miles

SkyWest Airlines is the main operator for this route. However, during the summer, Delta employs a single mainline frequency. The MSP-PSC route is operated daily and flown to shuttle people heading to one of the many ski destinations in Western Washington and Northern Idaho.

The Tri-Cities airport is physically located in Pasco, Washington; however, the airport serves Kennewick, Pasco, and Richland, Washington. According to Visit Tri-Cities, the region offers many tourist attractions, from wineries to snowy mountains. The Tri-Cities area has become quite the Pacific Northwestern destination.

7

Boston-Sarasota

Flight distance: 1,220 miles

This route operates 16 round-trips for the entire month of February as it is served on a winter seasonal basis. According to AeroRoutes, an airline schedule database, Delta Connection only serves the Boston-Sarasota market on Saturday and Sunday.

Delta began serving the BOS-SRQ in late 2024. This route will be upgraded to daily from April 19-27; many public schools in Massachusetts and New England use this week for spring break and Delta is taking full advantage of the busier travel period.

6

New York-LGA-Key West

Flight distance: 1,207 miles

Only 16 round-trip flights will be flown on this city pair in February. Like Delta’s BOS-SRQ route, this route connects New Yorkers to Florida during the winter.

Last summer, Delta Air Lines announced a big seasonal route initiative to connect Bostonians and New Yorkers with popular winter beach destinations. However, Delta faces extreme competition on this route as American also serves LGA-EWY and United Airlines

serves EWY from its Newark (EWR) fortress hub year-round.

5

Austin-Raleigh/Durham

This route is 1,162 miles in length

SkyWest Airlines flies this route twice daily for Delta Connection. This month, a whopping 100 round-trips will be flown. This is a super important route for Delta as Austin and Raleigh/Durham are some of Delta’s newest “focus cities”. AUS-RDU is Delta Connections’ E175 busiest route, offering nearly double the number of ASMs as its peers on this list.

The Austin and Raleigh/Durham areas have benefited from exponential growth coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic. According to Axios, Austin has seen almost a 10% population increase since the pandemic. These are both strong and strategic markets for Delta.

4

New York LaGuardia-Omaha

Flight distance: 1,148 miles

This city pair is served once daily. 56 round-trip flights will be flown this month. The New York-Omaha market sees fierce competition from Delta Connection and American Eagle. American Eagle also operates the LGA-OMA route on the E175. However, American only operates its flights once a day.

Travelers seeking flights to New York City from Omaha can only utilize LaGuardia Airport for nonstop flights, as no carrier serves the New York-JFK-Omaha market non-stop.

3

Boston-Memphis

Republic Airways operates the 1,139-mile route on behalf of Delta

The BOS-MEM route is a legacy Northwest Airlines route. Northwest Airlines had a large hub in Memphis prior to its merger with Delta Air Lines in 2008. During the Northwest Memphis hub heyday, BOS-MEM was served twice daily. Currently, Republic Airways operates this route daily, except for Saturdays. The BOS-MEM service was reincarnated in May 2023 after a several decades-long hiatus.

2

New York-JFK-Kansas City

1,113 miles are flown on this route.

Currently, Delta faces zero competition on its New York-JFK-Kansas City route. Delta began serving the New York-JFK-Kansas City market in June 2022. This new route came just months before the opening of the new Kansas City airport terminal. According to the official Kansas City International Airport website, the new terminal opened on February 28, 2023.

1

New York-JFK-Minneapolis/Saint Paul

Flight distance: 1,028 miles

The shortest and final route on this list is New York-JFK-Minneapolis/Saint Paul, which is served three times daily on Delta Connection. SkyWest Airlines operates this route for Delta Connection. However, Endeavor Air operates two of the three frequencies on this route, leaving just one frequency to SkyWest. Endeavor Air deploys a CRJ 900 aircraft on the JFK-MSP route.

Endeavor Air has a crew domicile at New York’s JFK airport, as does SkyWest Airlines at the Minneapolis/Saint Paul International Airport. This route is an example of a “hub-to-hub” route feeding both MSP’s and JFK’s transoceanic networks.

The small but mighty E175

The E175 is a very popular regional jet with airlines and passengers alike. The small jet offers a comfortable in-flight experience on short to mid-range journeys. The E175 features a spacious seating configuration of 3 abreast in the first class cabin and 4 abreast in the economy cabin. Many passengers love the E175 because the aircraft has no middle seats.

Delta’s dominance

Many routes listed above face zero competition, allowing Delta to have a full monopoly on several of these routes. Delta can serve many of these smaller markets due to the great economics of the E175 aircraft. Delta faces much lower crew and maintenance costs since Republic and SkyWest operate Delta Connection’s E175 fleet.

The E175 is the perfect aircraft for Delta to feed smaller markets into its larger hubs. The routes listed below are examples of Delta’s monopoly markets from those named above.

• Austin-Raleigh/Durham
• Boston-Kansas City
• Boston-Memphis
• Minneapolis/Saint Paul-Tri Cities, WA
• New York-JFK-Kansas City

Delta and the E175

According to planespotters.net, The Delta Connection brand operates a fleet of 133 E175 aircraft. Republic Airways operates a total of 57 E170 (the shorter variant of the E175) and E175 aircraft. SkyWest Airlines operates a total of 86 E175s in two configurations. SkyWest operates a 70-seater and 76-seater configuration.