Delta cutting international routes in 2012

Posted by Seth on November 22, 2011 under Flying, News | 7 Comments to Read

Faced with "poorly performing" routes and an uncertain economic future, Delta has announced that they are trimming six international destinations from their Atlanta hub in 2012. One of the destinations, Shanghai, has been an on-again, off-again operation with limited service (currently only 2x weekly). The other destinations being cut – Athens, Copenhagen, Moscow, Prague and Tel Aviv – were all seasonal destinations which are not being reinstated as originally expected in the Summer ’12 season. Oh, and the timing of these cuts is a bit of a smack at the ATL airport authority. The airport’s new international facility is scheduled to open in 2012 right as demand is apparently drying up.

A few seasonal destinations from New York City are also being cut by Delta, including Manchester, U.K.; Budapest, Hungary; and Berlin.

But it isn’t all cuts for Delta. They are picking up the slack for SkyTeam and anti-trust alliance partner Air France, operating the Seattle – Paris route starting in March the day after Air France leaves the market. On that route it is most likely a fleet utilization issue as the two carriers share profits and expenses on many transatlantic routes thanks to the ATI arrangement. Delta will also be adding service between Detroit and Paris, likely for similar reasons.

There’s a lot more red on that map than green.

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  1. Gabe said,

    Hmmm….If no one is flying then why aren’t there low demand awards available?

  2. Seth said,

    Oh silly, silly, silly, Gabe. You know full well that SkyPesos don’t exist to actually offer up international award seats at the low level. ;)

  3. nulle said,

    amending to what Seth said “SkyPeso don’t exist to actually offer up int’l aard seats at the low level on the routes you need”

  4. NYBanker said,

    DL also picked up ORD-CDG from AF not too long ago.

  5. Oliver said,

    So a few years ago after the NWA merger Delta was all gung-ho about going international, with hubs in Africa and all that. What’s left of that?

  6. Seth said,

    They still sortof have the hub in Africa, Oliver, though it isn’t fully fleshed out. But they have kept a number of those routes.

  7. Richard said,

    No one can afford monopoly transit prices except business people who don’t have to pay!

    Inflationary prices benefit monopoly companies including airlines but it’s the general public that is exploited.

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