CINCINNATI - Delta Air Lines plans to cut 12 percent of flights out of Cincinnati as the company restructures its hub here, the airline said Wednesday.
The flight reductions will begin next year, trimming about 40 flights a day from the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport, said Glen Hauenstein, Delta's executive vice president in charge of meshing Delta's network with newly acquired Northwest Airlines.
"We really wanted to keep the hub there because of its location, layout and the great facilities, but it took us awhile to figure out how to do it," Hauenstein told The Cincinnati Enquirer for a story published Wednesday. "This is the foundation to build upon, and I think the biggest (profit) improvement in all of Delta next year is going to be Cincinnati."
The 263 remaining flights from Cincinnati will be bunched more closely together as Delta synchronizes schedules among its other six hubs, Hauenstein said, and the new schedule will be coordinated with the Northwest hub in Detroit to avoid competition and complement each other's strengths.
About 85 percent of Delta's departures from Cincinnati will be flown by the airline's regional carriers, including Comair, an Erlanger, Ky.-based subsidiary that is laying off an additional 150 pilots early next year due to the latest flight reductions.
A previously announced a layoff of 330 pilots and flight attendants started last month.
Delta employs about 2,500 in the Cincinnati area, and Comair has 3,100 local workers.
Thursday
October 10th, 2024
2:21AM
