Delta Airlines announced today that it will be cutting regional air service to 24 small towns in America due to half-full planes and the rising cost of jet fuel. Says Delta in a press release:
Flights in these markets on average depart with 52 percent of the seats filled, with some locations as low as 12 percent. This compares to a domestic system load factor of 83 percent for 2010. Weak demand in some markets has led to flights occasionally operated with no passengers on board.
"While Delta would prefer to continue serving these communities, the new reality of mounting cost pressures faced by our industry means we can no longer afford to provide this service. As we continue to strengthen our business, Delta is retiring the Saab turboprops and some 50-seat jet aircraft, which will hinder the financial viability of serving these smaller markets," Delta said.
Delta Connection flight at Mobile Regional Airport, Mobile AL. Photo from my flickr.
Numerous towns affected by these cuts benefited from somewhat cheaper flights under the Essential Air Service program, which provides Federally subsidized flights to small towns which would otherwise go unserved by any airline, major or minor.
The following towns will no longer have any air service whatsoever after Delta pulls out. They are listed from least utilized (at 12% capacity) up to most utilized (65.3% capacity).
Thief River Falls MN (KTVF)
Greenville MS (KGLH)
Devils Lake ND (KDVL)
Watertown SD (KATY)
Muscle Shoals AL (KMSL)
Fort Dodge IA (KFOD)
Hibbing MN (KHIB)
Alpena MI (KAPN)
Tupelo MS (KTUP)
Jamestown ND (KJMS)
Mason City IA (KMCW)
Pierre SD (KPIR)
Iron Mountain MI (KIMT)
Sioux City IA (KSUX)
International Falls MN (KINL)
Brainerd MN (KBRD)
Hattiesburg MS (KPIB)
Escanaba MI (KESC)
Aberdeen SD (KABR)
Pellston MI (KPLN)
Bemidji MN (KBJI)
Sault Ste Marie MI (KCIU)
Waterloo IA (KALO)
Butte MT (KBTM)
When the NY Times asked Delta if they would reconsider not leaving some of these airports, they said they'd reconsider if the government threw more money at them:
Delta would like to continue flying from some of the 24 airports it designated last Friday as “underperforming” — but only if the federal subsidies were increased to cover the additional costs of serving them with regional jets. Meanwhile, Delta said it plans to abandon other airports where load factors were deemed too low, and assist those airports in finding replacement carriers.
As one who always has to fly out of a small airport to catch a connection in a big city, I hope this doesn't start a disturbing trend of making "the little people" drive a ridiculously long distance to the nearest big city to catch a flight. Connections, however inconvenient they can be at times, are big business.