Delta cutting more flights at Cincinnati hub
CINCINNATI -- Delta Air Lines is again cutting flights at Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport (CVG) – discontinuing all nonstop service to New Orleans, San Diego and Jacksonville, an airline spokesman told The Enquirer on Tuesday.
Delta also is trimming capacity on flights to Orlando and Fort Myers, Florida, as part of its 2015 summer schedule. The cuts are part of Delta's ongoing efforts to phase out aging and inefficient 50-seat regional jets.
The latest cuts will drop Delta below 100 daily flights at its once-booming CVG hub, and again raises the question: How much longer will the airline remain committed to Cincinnati?
Airline officials continue to say they have no immediate plans to pull the plug on the profitable CVG hub, which Delta CEO Richard Anderson said in summer 2013 was "right-sized." Delta's cuts had leveled off the past few years.
"Cincinnati remains an important market in the Delta system," airline spokesman Anthony Black said.
Delta will offer 89 daily peak departures by this summer at CVG, down from 106 daily nonstop flights in summer 2014. Atlanta-based Delta has now cut more than 580 daily flights in the past decade at CVG, which still has the highest amount of 50-seat regional jets among the airline's seven U.S. hubs.
Anderson recently told the Detroit Free Press that Delta "is really moving away significantly" from 50-seat jets, continuing to pare the smaller regional jets from the fleets of its regional partners.
"As we continue to adjust our overall aircraft allocation, markets may see changes in service," Black said. "Our goal in each market is to maintain overall destinations and seat availability as much as possible."
Top business leaders fear Delta will pull the plug on its CVG hub like it did in Memphis in 2013. But unlike in Memphis – where Delta continues the process of closing its hub – the airline still has strong support from top companies in Cincinnati. Fortune 500 giants Procter & Gamble and Kroger are among several companies that continue to have travel deals with the airline.
Delta will offer nonstop flights to 40 cities from CVG after all the summer schedule changes. By next quarter, Delta will increase its average number of seats to 20 cities it flies to from CVG as part of the shuffling of airplanes, airport spokeswoman Melissa Wideman said. In July, for example, Delta is scheduled to start flying 150-seat jets to Detroit instead of 50-seaters.
The latest cuts are to leisure destinations. Here's a closer look at the cuts:
• The elimination of the seasonal flights to San Diego leaves CVG without any nonstop service to that city.
• All flights to New Orleans and Jacksonville already have ended.
• Daily nonstop flights to Fort Myers are scheduled to end April 30. Beginning May 2, Delta will offer Saturday-only nonstop flights to Fort Myers from CVG.
• By June 4, Delta will be down to one daily nonstop flight to Orlando from CVG. The airline currently offers three daily nonstop flights to Orlando International Airport.
The news isn't all bad for leisure fliers. Low-cost carriers Allegiant Air and Frontier Airlines have started flights to most of those destinations in the past year. This month, Allegiant started limited nonstop weekly flights to New Orleans (seasonal) and Jacksonville.
Each week, Allegiant also offers six nonstop flights to Orlando and 10 flights to Punta Gorda, Fla., near Fort Myers. Frontier offers three nonstop flights a week to Orlando.
Delta still accounts for more than 70% of daily flights at CVG, the nation's most expensive airport.
It's possible Delta will not pull the plug on its CVG hub until 2020, when the airline's lease on Concourse B and the ticketing counter expires.
"Delta remains a valued airport partner and plays a key role at CVG," Wideman said. "Our goal continues to be the recruitment of new carriers while growing the service and capacity of existing carriers, including Delta."
The Cincinnati Enquirer is owned by Gannett, parent company of USA TODAY. Gannett newspaper stories occasionally are used in Ben Mutzabaugh's Today in the Sky blog. You can follow the author of this story, Enquirer reporter Jason Williams on Twitter at @jwilliamscincy.