Delta Cuts Capacity to Cope With Recession, Rising Fuel Costs

Delta Air Lines said it will cut international capacity by an additional 5 percent from what it announced in March, for a 15 percent total reduction in international capacity.

It has cut system capacity by 10 percent since 2008. The airline is also reassessing staffing needs, although it said it would try to avoid involuntary furloughs of frontline employees.

The recession, the impact of the H1N1 virus and jet fuel costs that have risen upwards of 20 percent since the beginning of the year, eating away at the $6 billion benefit Delta expected to reap from lower fuel prices, merger synergies and capacity reductions.

Customer demand for international travel has fallen significantly, the two executives said. This fall’s capacity reductions will target routes that have experienced losses in the current economic climate, including the suspension of nonstop service from Atlanta to Seoul and Shanghai and instead routing customers for these flights over Detroit or Tokyo, or on nonstop SkyTeam partner flights.

Delta also is suspending nonstop flights from Cincinnati to Frankfurt and London-Gatwick. Cincinnati customers will still be able to reach these and many other international destinations via Delta’s European gateways. Delta also is suspending nonstop service between New York-JFK and Edinburgh.

It will also reduce weekly frequencies connecting Atlanta and Detroit to Mexico City and postponing some previously planned seasonal service between non-hub cities and Mexican beach destinations due to the impact of the H1N1 virus on customers' travel plans.