Delta Looks to Shake Off Pandemic-Era Slump in Regional Flying

Delta plans to restore all of its regional flying to pre-pandemic levels by next summer, the airline said on Thursday. Airlines have struggled to return full capacity to their regional networks due to the pilot shortage.

In mid-2022, around 500 regional aircraft sat in storage facilities as carriers worked to rebalance their supply of pilots. Now, that number has dwindled to 167, per Cirium Fleet Analyzer data.

As of October, the airline still has 18 Delta Connection-branded regional aircraft in storage, many of which belong to its wholly owned subsidiary Endeavor Air.

Regional aircraft at New York LaGuardia Airport (Photo: AirlineGeeks | William Derrickson)

“We’re going to continue to get utilization out of the fleet and better utilization out of the regional aircraft; [we] will be, by next summer, 100% restored on those,” said Delta finance chief Dan Janki during the airline’s Q3 2024 earnings call.

Most major U.S. carriers — including Delta — have halted or substantially reduced pilot hiring this year, giving regional airlines more breathing room to better align captain and first officer ratios.

SkyWest, which is the world’s largest regional carrier, said last quarter that it continues to see improvements in pilot hiring and retention trends. This opens the door for more jets to return to service.

Normalized Hiring

Delta believes the industry will generate approximately 5,000 new pilot jobs next year, which is in line with 2019 figures. The airline expects to see a “more normalized” pilot hiring tempo across the board.

“The dearth of capacity in terms of pilots available for regionals is dissipating very quickly,” added Delta President Glen Hauenstein during the call. “And so, in the beginning, we probably had only 35% to 40% of our capacity available. Most recently, this past year, it’s been more like 65% to 70%. And by next summer, we think that will be back to 100% of the capacity that we had available in 2019.”

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Ryan Ewing

Ryan founded AirlineGeeks.com back in February 2013 and has amassed considerable experience in the aviation sector. His work has been featured in several publications and news outlets, including CNN, WJLA, CNET, and Business Insider. During his time in the industry, he's worked in roles pertaining to airport/airline operations while holding a B.S. in Air Transportation Management from Arizona State University along with an MBA. Ryan has experience in several facets of the industry from behind the yoke of a Cessna 172 to interviewing airline industry executives. Ryan works for AirlineGeeks' owner FLYING Media, spearheading coverage in the commercial aviation space.

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