<p>Delta Air Lines passengers no longer will be guaranteed a seat on its Shuttle flights under the latest policy change announced by the struggling carrier as it revamps its fare structure and frequent flier programs.</p><p>Under its current policy, customers on Delta Shuttle flights between Washington, D.C., New York City and Boston are guaranteed a seat on any flight. If the airline is unable to provide one within 30 minutes of the desired time, they are issued a free one-way Shuttle ticket.</p><p>That "guaranteed seat" policy will be eliminated, effective Tuesday, "to more effectively allocate our planes across our network," the Atlanta-based company told frequent fliers in an email sent Thursday.</p><p>"It's part of our transformation plan to become more financially viable," said company spokeswoman Benet Wilson. "We just think it's a better way to deploy our available assets."</p><p>Customers who are not placed on their desired flight still will be immediately booked on the next available flight, although the 30-minute guarantee will no longer apply, Wilson said.</p><p>"It's an hourly shuttle, so people will be accommodated on the next flight," she added.</p><p>Arlington, Va.-based US Airways Shuttle, which serves the same markets, does not offer any guaranteed seat policies, said spokeswoman Amy Kudwa.</p><p>Delta, which came close to filing for bankruptcy before winning $1 billion in concessions from pilots in November, has made a number of recent changes to financially restructure the company and lure back customers. It has introduced SimpliFares, which cut domestic fares by up to 50 percent and scrapped its unpopular Saturday-stay requirements, and altered its frequent flier programs to make it easier to upgrade tickets to business or first-class.</p><p>___</p><p>On the Net:</p><p>HASH(0x2866734)</p><p>HASH(0x2865244)</p>
