Endeavor Air, a wholly owned subsidiary of Delta Air Lines has announced plans to open a new crew base at Raleigh-Durham International Airport (RDU).
According to the airline, the new base is expected to open in the second quarter of 2025 and will house between 130 and 170 crew members. This will compliment the existing maintenance base that the airline operates at RDU.
Raleigh-Durham is a Focus City for Delta so it makes sense that the carrier would look to add a crew base here. According to a press release from the airline, Endeavor’s current network flying includes considerable RDU-to-outstation activity that will best be covered by a crew base in RDU.
Endeavor Air states that the new base will be used to support existing flying however, I wouldn’t be surprised to see them add additional routes from the airport. Another regional operator, SkyWest, opened a crew base in Austin (AUS) last year to support Delta’s expansions of its focus city there.
Raleigh-Durham will join Minneapolis (MSP), Detroit (DTW), Cincinnati (CVG), Atlanta (ATL), New York-LaGuardia (LGA), and New York-JFK as crew and maintenance bases for the airline.
Brian Darsow, Chief Operating Officer of Endeavor Air, had this to say about the new base:
“A crew base in RDU will increase efficiency and support operational reliability. The RDU crew base will support Endeavor’s operation as the airline ramps up to operating 141 aircraft by the summer of 2025.”
It’s exciting to see the growth Delta has been having in its focus cities in recent years. Being Austin based I’d long hoped to see the airline grow here and it has done just that. Raleigh-Durham has also seen significant growth with more likely to come based on this new base opening.
Summary
Delta Air Lines’ wholly owned regional subsidiary, Endeavor Air, is opening a crew base at Raleigh-Durham International Airport (RDU). While the airline states this base will be used to support the current network of flying, I wouldn’t be surprised to see new routes added as a result.