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Delta Drops Service

Posted on: Thursday, 8 September 2005, 12:00 CDT

Sep. 8--Delta Airlines is dropping service between Montgomery and Cincinnati later this year, Delta officials said Wednesday.

The reduction in routes mirrors other changes made by the airline across the nation, part of a larger plan to reduce its capacity at the Cincinnati hub by 26 percent and boost international service.

"There will be no non-stop service to Cincinnati from Montgomery," said corporate spokesperson Anthony Black.

However, officials at the Montgomery Airport Authority said they were told only one of the two Cincinnati flights would be dropped.

The changes are effective Dec. 1.

The Delta Web site Wednesday showed flights to Cincinnati after November will be routed through the Atlanta hub.

Black said the reduction in flights around the country and in Montgomery was part of a strategy "to provide the adequate amount of air service with respect to passenger traffic."

In other words, there weren't enough people travelling between Cincinnati and Montgomery.

The process of evaluating where the ridership is up or down is constant, Black said, and the company is always looking for ways to tweak their service to maximize efficiency.

Officials at the Montgomery Airport Authority say the reduction in flights is standard practice in the airline industry.

"We've seen flights dropped, flights added, almost on a weekly basis," said Mark Wnuk, executive assistant at the Montgomery Airport Authority. "This airport here, we are part of the larger aviation picture. There are a lot of things going on in the industry, and sooner or later a ripple gets to Montgomery."

The reduction in air service means travelers going to the western states via Delta will have to go to their flagship Atlanta hub -- either by air or car. Seven Delta flights are offered daily from Montgomery to Atlanta.

DaShondi Johnson travels three times a year to Seattle to see his son.

"I've never flown out of Montgomery to tell you the truth," Johnson said. "This airport has got to get bigger. I'm tired of driving two hours to Atlanta or Birmingham" to catch a Southwest Airlines flight.

Johnson said the reduced flights is probably bad news for the airport, but believes growth in the auto industry here will spur more growth in the area.

Wnuk said the airline industry is in worse shape today than a year ago, but service out of the Montgomery airport is still strong with Continental Airlines adding service earlier this year.

Delta also cut three daily flights to Dallas in the past year, Wnuk said.

Delta's been racked by high fuel costs, losing nearly $10 billion since January 2001, the Associated Press has reported.

The company, which is fighting to avoid a bankruptcy filing, said it would accelerate the removal of certain aircraft types to simplify its fleet.

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Copyright (c) 2005, Montgomery Advertiser, Ala.

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DAL,

Source: Montgomery Advertiser

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