Delta Facing New Competition on Major Routes From Low-Cost Carrier Sun Country Airlines

Chris Malone Méndez
·2 min read
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Low-cost carriers have filled a critical gap in the air travel market, allowing budget flyers to reach their destination without breaking the bank. Sun Country Airlines has been a key player in the ultra-low-cost space, and the Minneapolis–St.Paul-based carrier is looking to compete directly with the country's second most popular airline.

Delta Air Lines maintains a hub at Minneapolis–St. Paul International Airport, but Sun Country is prepared to give the airline a run for its money on several of its routes out of the Twin Cities. CEO Jude Bricker admitted last summer that Sun Country is "trying to turn Minneapolis into a two-airline market."

"If you pay with your own money, you fly with Sun Country. If you fly on a corporate contract, you fly Delta," he said at the time.

Its latest additions out of Minneapolis–St. Paul include 10 new summertime routes, with two to new international destinations in Canada. They're prepared to take customers from Minneapolis across the North American continent through next summer and, on some routes, past Labor Day 2024.

Related: Delta CEO Says It's Rethinking Controversial Policy Change

From next June through August, Sun Country will be running nonstop flights from Minneapolis–St. Paul to Montréal and Toronto, competing directly with Air Canada and Delta Air Lines. As for the U.S., Sun Country passengers can expect to fly nonstop from Minneapolis to Albuquerque, NM; Billings, MT; Boise, ID; Grand Rapids, MI; Missoula, MT; Oakland, CA; Syracuse, NY; and Washington, D.C.'s Dulles airport. The only other competitor with nonstop flights on many of these routes is Delta; no other airlines fly nonstop from Minneapolis to Oakland or Syracuse.

"Sun Country prides itself on being the leisure airline of choice for MSP customers," Grant Whitney, senior vice president and chief revenue officer for Sun Country, said in a statement about the new routes. "We have more than doubled our nonstop destinations for customers flying out of MSP in the last five years and we are thrilled to offer these unique new offerings spanning the continent from Québec to New Mexico."

It's never too early to start making travel plans for next summer.