Delta begins hourly shuttle service from LAX to SFO

The super-competitive California Corridor just heated up even further. Delta will add 14 flights each day to San Francisco International, to be operated by its partner Compass Airlines. That means the addition of more than 1,000 seats in each direction, although United remains the leader on this route with 2,100 seats, followed by Southwest, and American. And yes, SF is the most popular destination out of LAX, with 1.7 million passengers during the 12 months ended April 30. As for Delta, it's on a general expansion kick out of L.A. with additional service to Portland, Seattle, New Orleans, Kansas City, Indianapolis, and a bunch of other cities. The aircraft to be used on the SF run is the 76-seat Embraer E-175 jets - and among the amenities are complimentary newspapers, snacks, and beverages (including Sierra Nevada craft beer, Starbucks coffee, and Wente wine). Here's the Dallas Morning News story. There's no mention of fares, but air shuttles are typically aimed at the business traveler willing to shell out several hundred bucks for a last-minute ticket (the cheapest round-trip flights leaving LAX today for SF were $430). That said, the additional seats now available are bound to put pressure on everyone to offer special fares, at least for a while. By the way, domestic passenger traffic at LAX was up 7.8 percent in June compared with a year earlier (via the Daily Breeze).