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Delta, Northwest Don't Expect Flight Cuts During Bankruptcy

Posted on: Thursday, 15 September 2005, 21:00 CDT

Sep. 15--Flights from Delta and Northwest airlines and their partner airlines will continue to land and take off at Yeager Airport, despite the airlines filing for bankruptcy Wednesday.

But Yeager could temporarily lose $50,000 from landing fees and rent from Comair, a subsidiary of Delta that flies out of Yeager. If the bankruptcy court decides to put Yeager's payment on hold, the airport will have to dip into its reserves until the money comes through.

"It hurts our cash flow because we're going to have to wait a while [for the money]," said Airport Director Rick Atkinson. The wait won't affect the airport's services, he said.

The airport is just now getting its money owed by US Airways from when it entered bankruptcy in 2002, Atkinson said.

Delta has two airlines that serve Charleston. Comair operates four daily flights to Cinncinnati and a daily flight to Atlanta. Atlantic Southeast Airlines flies four daily flights to Atlanta.

Comair is a wholly owned Delta subsidiary, which is why the bankruptcy court could hold its landing fees and rent. Delta sold ASA to SkyWest for $425 million last week.

Yeager won't be financially affected by Northwest's filing because the airport's contract is with Mesaba Airlines, an independent airline that flies two daily flights to Detroit from Charleston for Northwest.

Meanwhile, Delta and Northwest say they and their subsidiaries will continue to operate a full flight schedule. Atkinson hasn't heard of any flight reductions.

Brian Streeval, an aviation analyst with the Boyd Group in Colorado, said there's no need for travelers to be immediately worried. Delta could reduce its overall fleet by 10 to 15 percent, but that probably wouldn't happen until early next year, he said.

Charleston could be spared from any service changes because it's a market where airlines tend to make more money than larger cities where there's more competition, Streeval said.

Delta and Northwest followed United Airlines and US Airways into bankruptcy protection. Yeager has fared well during those other airlines' bankruptcy processes, Atkinson said. United didn't cut service and US Airways upgraded most of its planes from turboprops to regional jets.

"I think it's really early to tell how the airline industry is going to shake out from these restructurings," Atkinson said.

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Copyright (c) 2005, The Charleston Gazette, W.Va.

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DAL, NWAC,

Source: The Charleston Gazette

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