Delta Plans to Drop a Dozen More Airports
Suspension effective July 8, would affect 11 US airports include Aspen, Flint and Santa Barbara, plus Ottawa International in Canada
Delta Air Lines has announced plans to suspend all flights at 11 more US airports starting July 8. The affected airports are: Aspen, CO (ASE), Bangor, ME (BGR), Erie, PA (ERI), Flint, MI (FNT), Fort Smith, AR (FSM), Lincoln, NE (LNK), New Bern/Morehead/Beaufort, NC (EWN), Peoria, IL (PIA), Santa Barbara, CA (SBA), Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, PA (AVP), and Williston, ND (XWA).
The carrier had already announced suspension of services into 10 US airports in May. In addition the airline has also announced plans to suspend all flights to Ottawa International airport, beginning June 21.
The carrier said that the move comes “while customer volume is significantly reduced to help lower costs as we mitigate the crisis due to COVID-19.” Delta’s announcement stressed that all of the airports will continue to receive service from at least one other carrier after it suspends operations.
The continuation of service meets the requirements of the Department of Transportation’s adjusted service obligations, outlined in a statement issued June 4, which reads: “The Department is taking this action in light of ongoing challenges faced by air carriers due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) public health emergency. The Department used a systematic process to allow covered carriers to reduce the number of points they must serve as a proportion of their total service obligation, subject to certain restrictions.”
According to the statement, the new rules “ensured that every community that was served by a covered carrier prior to March 1, 2020, would continue to receive service from at least one covered carrier, so that no point would lose all of its air service.”
Sandy Gordon, senior vice president, domestic airport operations, said, “As the world responds to the COVID-19 pandemic, Delta continues to face an unprecedented impact to our business, and suspending operations at these airports will reduce costs where customer demand is low.”
Gordon added, “We will move quickly to work with affected customers, whose patience we sincerely appreciate as we navigate this unprecedented time together.”
