I used to work for DL, and i can tell you it’s not the HUB that totally determines the price.
You have to ask yourself a question: “Who else flies from here?” If the answer in Southwest or AirTran (or other large discount airline), You fare will be much cheaper. If DL (or United, American, etc) does not have a competing Discounter on that route (or combinations), then they charge what they want. But toss AirTran into the mix, and your flight’s cost drops to what AirTran wants to price it at. The big 3 will even sometimes match rules, since discounters also offer flexibility on that, too.
Then you run into another problem, scarcity. When the big 3 drop their fares, they only do it for x number of seats. Once they’re gone, the next price bracket (and rules) come into play. The big 3 sell out the cheaper tix quicker because when one shops and the choice is between the “big” airline and the discount, the “big” airline is almost always chosen, thus reducing the number of cheaper seats.
Hope this helps
