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Delta Suspends Service to 11 Domestic Cities

A Delta A320 departing Boston. Delta’s CEO is confident that business travel will rebound post-pandemic. (Photo: AirlineGeeks | William Derrickson)

In a press statement issued by the carrier recently, Delta Air Lines announced the suspension of service to eleven cities effective July 8, 2020. Delta cited the impact of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic stating the eleven cities currently have “very low customer demand.”

The cities affected by the announcement hold a relatively low market share for Delta. According to the U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics BTS, Delta is not a significant player based on passengers enplaned in the eleven affected cities. The possible exceptions being Flint, Michigan and Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania.

The affected cities are all domestic airports within the United States. The eleven cities, which account for approximately 5 percent of the airline’s airports served include Aspen, CO (ASE), Bangor, ME (BGR), Erie, PA (ERI), Flint, MI (FNT), Fort Smith, AR (FSM), Lincoln, NE (LNK), New Bern/Morehead/Beaufort, NC (EWN), Peoria, IL (PIA), Santa Barbara, CA (SBA), Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, PA (AVP) and Williston, ND (XWA).

Flint will experience the largest impact on Delta’s decision. Prior to the pandemic driven flight adjustments, Delta carried approximately 16.42% of the passenger enplaned volume there for the month of February, second only to Allegiant which carried 33.34%.

In Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, PA, Delta carried approximately 10.82% of passenger volume in February of this year, 5th overall for the city.  The four carriers with larger passenger volumes are all regional carriers, their combined passenger movements being 76.46%.

All other markets being affected by the service suspension accounted for single-digit passenger volume percentages according to BTS data.

Delta’s 2nd quarter scheduled operations have declined by 85 percent overall with 80 percent reductions in domestic operations and 90 percent schedule reductions internationally.

Rick Shideler

Author

  • Rick Shideler

    Rick is a retired airline maintenance professional with over 40 years experience in commercial, corporate and military aviation sectors. Rick holds an FAA Airframe & Powerplant (A&P) and a FCC General RadioTelephone Licenses. Rick is a veteran of the United States Air Force and has served in multiple leadership positions including Director of Maintenance for a large corporate aviation firm, airline Director of Engineering and has chaired multiple aviation maintenance safety and reliability industry committees. Rick took his first airplane ride at six months old and became an airline geek shortly thereafter.

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