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Delta Cutting Flights: 24 Small Airports Affected

Delta Air Lines announced last week it is looking to cancel service to 24 small airports and ending its contract in 16 cities with the Department of Transportation’s Essential Air Service program.

All of the 24 discontinued markets were a legacy of the airline’s merger with Northwest Airlines in 2008.

Per the program’s contract, the DOT has 90 days to find a new carrier for the affected airports which are in rural parts of Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, North Dakota, and South Dakota.

Great Lakes Airlines has expressed interest in picking up several of the markets, but there are nine markets that don’t currently have offers from another carrier. If no bids are received for a market, or if an airline’s proposal fails due diligence, then Delta is required to maintain service to the affected areas until a suitable new carrier is found.

The Essential Air Service program provides subsidies to airlines that serve smaller markets. According to records, Delta received between $1.1 and $2.9 million to serve the markets.

Saab 340 Turboprop plane

A Saab 340 Turboprop plane at Charlottesville-Albemarle Airport on a cloudy day in 2005 - public domain photo via Wikipedia

In a statement, Delta indicated that it could no longer afford to serve these markets and was losing a total of $14 million a year on these flights. Last year, occupancy averaged 83 percent. But, this year occupancy was down to an average of just 52 percent with some flights at just 27 to 12 percent occupied. There have even been empty flights.

Higher fuel prices have made these routes less cost-efficient to operate since the fuel bill has to be split among a much smaller group of passengers. In addition to canceling these routes, Delta is looking to retire its 34-seat Saab turboprop plane. Delta is also retiring many of its next-largest planes, 50-seat regional jets, that are often unprofitable to fly.

Delta is planning to continue service to some of its markets in the Essential Air Service program. As Delta sheds the smaller planes from its fleet, it has offered to maintain service to 9 of its Essential Air Service program cities with larger planes if the DOT agrees to increase its subsidies accordingly.

By Lily J. Kosner for PeterGreenberg.com.

Related Links: Reuters, Aviation Week, New York Times, Delta’s list of affected markets

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