The briefing in brief: Delta juggles Austin/Bergstrom schedule, but Southwest widens its lead in market share. Alaska Airlines cuts almost a third of its Mexico seat capacity. Marriott faces class-action suit over resort and destination fees on Bonvoy award stays. Wyndham devalues its program again. Air Canada encourages Canadians to stay home this summer. Zurich now allows travelers to take up to two liters in their carry-on bags. And more.

AFTER THE GOLD RUSH IN AUSTIN
The rising cost of living, terrible ground traffic and flat annual passenger volume has subdued Austin's gold rush, but airlines continually eye the Texas capital for hub operations. That's especially true at Delta Air Lines, which abandoned a Dallas/Fort Worth hub 20 years ago and coveted a new Texas base ever since. Despite the failure of United Airlines years ago and American Airlines' recent Austin misadventure, Delta continues to juggle options at what it currently considers a "focus city." Although it has climbed to second place in market share at Austin/Bergstrom--Delta has about 15.5% of traffic compared to American (14.8%) and United (12.4%)--the Delta incursion continues to be rocky. The latest changes: Delta will launch a daily Airbus A319 nonstop to San Jose on October 6. In November, Delta will add another commuter route, this one to Phoenix using an EMB-175. A weekly Austin-Fort Myers nonstop also arrives in November. But that'll only come after the airline drops two other routes, eliminating flights to both Memphis and New Orleans. That will bring Delta to about 60 daily flights in Austin. Ironically, while the mainline guys battle over the Austin market--population is now over a million with 2.6 million people in the Greater Austin Metro--Southwest Airlines continues to tighten its grip at Bergstrom. For all its other woes nationally, Southwest now commands 42.2% of Austin traffic, up from 41.8% two years ago and just 37% in 2019.

ALASKA AIR SLASHING MEXICO SERVICE
Alaska Airlines has fallen out of love with Mexico. Maybe it's because it now owns Hawaiian Airlines and can fly sunseekers to the islands instead or maybe it's because the foray south of the border has been less profitable than expected. Either way, Alaska will be flying 30% fewer seats to Mexico destinations in the fourth quarter compared to the same period in 2025. Its drawdown includes two tranches of route cuts. The airline recently killed three routes from San Jose (SJC): Puerto Vallarta, Los Cabos and Guadalajara. Now comes word that Alaska will not resume five seasonal routes expected back for the 2026 winter season. Those are Las Vegas to Los Cabos and Puerto Vallarta; Los Angeles and San Francisco to Cancun; and San Francisco to Loreto (LTO).
        Delta Air Lines says it will resume flights between Los Angeles and Vancouver on November 21. There'll be two daily Airbus A319s flights on the route, which Delta hasn't operated since 2018.
        Riyadh Air, a Saudi Arabian start-up, has won Transportation Department approval to fly to the United States. Launched in 2023, the carrier now flies as far as London and hopes to begin service to Atlanta/Hartsfield in October. Why Atlanta? The government-owned airline already has an alliance with Delta Air Lines.

CLASS-ACTION SUIT HITS MARRIOTT BONVOY OVER FEES
Marriott Bonvoy has been hit with a class-action suit over the chain's policy of charging resort/destination fees on award stays. Marriott has been repeatedly sued over how (or if) it displays resort fees on paid stays. And it has generally cleaned up its act there. But the chain--and its franchises and property owners--continues to hide or obscure the fees on Bonvoy awards. You can read the specifics of the class-action suit here, where it was posted by the LoyaltyLobby.com site.
        Wyndham Rewards devalues its award chart on September 15 by adding a fourth redemption level. The new 45,000-point level will be added to the current structure that charges 7,500, 15,000 or 30,000 points a night. If you recall, Wyndham Rewards was a hot program about a decade ago when it overhauled its award chart with a one-price-fits-all rate of 15,000 points per night. That was a scam to charge more for low-end properties and fake a reduction for its best hotels and resorts. The new, fourth level brings Wyndham full circle back to inflated costs for good resorts.

AIR CANADA PLAYS THE STAYCATION CARD
You can't blame Canadians for avoiding the United States for summer holidays. President Donald Trump continues to deride Canada as the "51st State," attack Prime Minister Mark Carney and insist the country exists only thanks to U.S. largesse. Canadians know most do not agree with Trump's taunts, but it's not exactly a welcoming time for them. So Air Canada is leaning hard into the "staycation"--as in stay in Canada this summer. A press release issued Friday (June 26) touts "a full summer schedule of more than 50 bucket list destinations across Canada." It also promotes an in-flight "taste of Canada" with "Canadian spirits, local beers (including Molson and Creemore Springs), and new Célébration Mini Maple Leaf Cookies." All this said, Air Canada will launch twice-weekly Airbus A220 flights between its Montreal/Trudeau hub and Fort Myers beginning October 26. Because Canadian staycations are cool in summer, but perhaps too cool in winter …

ZURICH LIFTS THE 3-1-1 LIQUID RULE
Water drinkers rejoice! The long march to eliminating the outdated, annoying, 20-year-old 3-ounce/100 milliliter rule has finally taken a new step forward. Zurich Airport says travelers originating at ZRH can clear security in Security Control Building, which is now equipped with the latest CT scanners. That'll allow flyers to carry up to two liters of liquid in their carry-on bags. As you may recall, European airports have been trying to lift the 100ml restriction for years, but have been slowed by wonky equipment, bureaucracy and political interference.
        Miami now has a P/S private terminal that you can access on a pay (a lot)-to-play basis. Located in the former Pan Am headquarters, it is the fourth P/S terminal after LAX, DFW and Atlanta. Prices are an eye-watering $1,295 a person on a walk-up basis or a (ahem!) more reasonable $895 if you join on an annual basis, which requires a fee of almost five grand. Full details are here.

TRAVEL NEWS YOU NEED TO KNOW
British Airways and Porter Airlines of Canada begin code-share operations on July 8. That should make it easier for Porter flyers to connect to BA's Canada network.
        Delta Air Lines dribbled out some interesting stats at a recent investor's conference. It says nine million people now hold Delta-branded American Express cards and flyers have linked four million Starbucks accounts and two million Uber accounts to their Delta SkyMiles account.
        Priority Pass access to several The Club airport lounges no longer includes free use of showers. They will now be an extra charge. This is, of course, a corporate version of three-card monte. A British company called Collinson owns both Priority Pass and The Club chain of airport lounges. More details are here.
        The TSA says it has enhanced its PreCheck Touchless ID via a partnership with Google Wallet. To be totally honest, I have no idea what the TSA is talking about and it certainly doesn't sound like it'll speed up your security clearance. YMMV, of course, so here's the TSA verbiage.