Delta's decision to swoop in comes shortly after Southwest Airlines closed its own flight attendant base in Austin this summer. The carrier is also going head-to-head with Southwest by offering Southwest's A-List and A-List Preferred Members elite status if they switch loyalty to Delta, in a promotion that runs through Sept. 30.

Part of a wing of a Delta Air Lines plane flying from Florida to Texas detached midflight Tuesday. “After DL 1893 landed safely and without incident in Austin, it was observed that a portion of