Delta Air Lines retires MD-88s, MD-90s

Delta Air Lines to cut more than half its focus cities

Delta Air Lines (DL, Atlanta Hartsfield Jackson) will reduce the number of its focus cities from five to just two, Austin Bergstrom Int'l and Raleigh/Durham, in the post-pandemic recovery period, President Glen Hauenstein said during the 42nd Raymond James annual investors conference.

As reported by Skift, Delta will no longer treat Cincinnati Int'l, Nashville Int'l, and San José, CA as focus cities.

Hauenstein underlined that both Austin and Raleigh/Durham were "growing rapidly and had a high concentration of business traffic". Prior to the pandemic, the airline targeted a "mid- to high-single-digit" number of focus cities, which are essentially small connecting hubs.

According to the ch-aviation capacities module, out of the three focus cities due to be suspended, Delta is only, at present, the largest carrier by capacity in Cincinnati, which was once its hub. Its market share at the Kentucky gateway is currently 35.2%. It has an 11% market share at Nashville airport, behind Southwest Airlines and American Airlines, and just 6.6% at San José airport,...

Brazil’s competition watchdog gives Delta-LATAM JV final nod

Brazil’s competition watchdog (Conselho Administrativo de Defesa Econômica - CADE) has given its final approval of a joint venture between Delta Air Lines (DL, Atlanta Hartsfield Jackson) and LATAM Airlines Group, without conditions, the two partners announced in a joint statement.

This follows CADE giving its initial approval in September 2020, which had in turn been the first regulatory green light for the JV since it was signed in May 2020.

The approval covers only LATAM’s Brazilian operations. The Delta-LATAM agreement has also been approved in Uruguay, but the application process continues in other South American countries, including the group’s home country Chile.

The proposed JV with Delta Air Lines - which holds a 20% stake in LATAM Airlines Group - aims to include LATAM Airlines Brasil, LATAM Airlines, LATAM Airlines Colombia, LATAM Airlines Ecuador, and LATAM Airlines Perú.

It will allow, for example, codeshare deals between Delta and the LATAM subsidiaries; shared terminals at New York JFK’s Terminal 4 and Sao Paulo Guarulhos’ Terminal 3;...

Cali regulator rejects Contour's bid to serve Sacramento

US regional airline Contour Airlines (LF, Tupelo) will continue to serve Oakland from Crescent City after the Border Coast Regional Airport Authority (BCRAA) turned down its proposal to change to Sacramento Int'l to take better advantage of its new interline agreement with American Airlines (AA, Dallas/Fort Worth), local media reports.

The Californian joint powers authority reached its decision after hearing from Contour Airlines Chief Executive Officer Matt Chaifetz, who said the Tennessee-based carrier was not pushing for a change, reports Wild Rivers Outpost.

It also follows a special BCRAA board meeting on February 18, 2021, during which the matter was discussed. According to the agenda notes, Contour Airlines did not advocate either hub and was neutral on whether one should be chosen over the other. The airline had merely presented Sacramento as an alternative option given its interline agreement with American Airlines (AA).

The board discussed that AA currently does not serve Oakland and that there is no ability for Contour's passengers leaving Del Norte County Regional airport to connect...

New gov’t, new Alitalia plan, involving Lufthansa - report

Assessing the possible solutions to keep Alitalia (AZ, Rome Fiumicino) afloat, Italy’s new government led by economist Mario Draghi is considering taking control of the bankrupt flag carrier as part of a plan that would include a capital raise from Lufthansa (LH, Frankfurt Int'l), the newspaper La Repubblica has reported.

“Alitalia is moving towards a sale of its assets first to the state and then to Lufthansa,” the report claimed.

Previous efforts to find partners for the administrator-led airline, which filed for bankruptcy in 2017, included Lufthansa, but these came to nothing. Rome re-nationalised Alitalia in May.

Another newspaper, La Stampa, reported last week that Giuseppe Leogrande, Alitalia’s chief commissioner, had asked the government for a further EUR150 million euros (USD181 million) to pay salaries for February and keep the airline going.

According to La Repubblica, the operation that the new government is reportedly considering would take place in three stages: first to place Alitalia under the control of its low-cost subsidiary Alitalia CityLiner (CT, Rome Fiumicino), then for Italy’s...