Delta plans Comair shut down

Delta Air Lines is shutting down Comair, effective Sept. 29. Don Bornhorst, senior vice-president of Delta Connection, said in a memo, “While regional flying has and will remain a key component of Delta’s network, customer expectations and the unit costs of regional flying have evolved. In response, Delta recently announced its plans to reduce the total number of regional jets in its network while adding more mainline flying. This includes reducing the number of 50-seat regional jets from nearly 350 aircraft to 125 or fewer in the upcoming years. As a result of this reduction and changes to its customer-focused business strategy, Delta has made the difficult decision to cease Comair’s operations.”According to officials, the discontinuation of Comair’s operations will not result in any significant changes to Delta’s network, which has enough flexibility to accommodate these changes. Currently, Comair accounts for approximately 1% of Delta’s network capacity.There will be no disruption to customers and no significant adjustments to Delta’s flight schedule or locations served. All customers who travel on the Delta network, whether on Delta Connection flights or mainline aircraft, can continue to make travel plans with Delta as they have in the past. (http://www.delta.com)