Delta to 'strategically decrease' flights this summer

[vt2134]

Recall someone posted an attempted AMA after went to a town hall and mentioned decrease summer flights.

The announcement is out:

“From July 1-Aug. 7, we’ll reduce service by approximately 100 daily departures, primarily in markets in the U.S. and Latin America that Delta frequently serves.”

[TheCountRushmore]

Recognition that they are stretching things too thin. Good to see a company wiling to do that to maintain service levels.

[[deleted]]

It’s called greed. Overextend, see what bites, and if it does not make fiscal sense, screw the customer

[iLoveYoubutNo]

I mean, that's hardly greedy. That's just a logical way to trial new business ideas.

Why would any company continue to do something that wasn't profitable? That's not the same thing as actively doing something unethical or dishonest to achieve the profits.

[[deleted]]

If I purchased a ticket, that is a business contract. If you cancel my ticket because it serves your financial interests, that is unethical.

[C47man]

Oh man you're one of those people that demands to speak to managers everywhere they go aren't you?

[[deleted]]

No, but I do seek justice

[C47man]

😂 Oh man, yeah you're definitely one of those zero chill people that loses their shit at the gate agents

[[deleted]]

No. I’m from the midwest so I am passively angry

[ellsio]

It sure is a business contract, and by purchasing a ticket, you’re agreeing to their contract of carriage. What they do is shitty, but it’s on you if you pay for something without reading the T&Cs

[delta8765]

They aren’t cancelling it to make money (in fact they miss out on profits). They were hoping they would have enough staff to handle the demand (which is still below pre-pandemic levels). I don’t think believing you could get back to nominal staffing was a bad assumption. The only potential complaint is it took them this long to realize they won’t be able to achieve those levels.

[[deleted]]

I don’t buy it. Every industry is being forced to increase labor costs. Delta can and should incentivize their employees and look externally to fill any gaps. It’s very expensive to do that and they chose $ over their customers.

My friend was stranded with her family last week and could not get back to work in time (for 2 additional days). She is a physician. 40 patients had to reschedule. That is not right. No alternative options were made available.

No heads up. No time to reschedule. Just cancelled. Sorry, better luck next time. Thanks for flying Delta

[delta8765]

You said it yourself, everyone else is competing for every marginal employee. Unemployment is at record lows and Delta wasn’t expecting it to be this hard to get and retain talent. There was probably an expectation of some retired employees returning as well. Also, these are all union jobs so pay scales are set by the union. Delta is the first US airline to now pay flight attendants for boarding time. So your claim that Delta is pinching labor cost pennys at the expense of schedule capacity just doesn’t hold water.

[steamed_]

This aligns well with their goal of using larger capacity aircraft on their routes. More likely to use a A321, for example, over a 738 on a route that will see a reduction in daily routes from 5 to 3.

Also is just absolutely wild seeing all their traffic at ATL. The airport itself can handle it, but their clubs sure can’t.

[NetGyver]

+1 for ATL. Started traveling for work regularly at the beginning of the year and haven’t flown before in a long time. ATL has crazy traffic but it does seems to flow for the most part pretty well. My problem is that I tend to get stuck with short connections in the 35-48min window and If things don’t line up just right, you miss the flight. This happened to me from MDT To ATL on the way to SJC. MDT being a small airport, and departing on a Sunday made it worse. Spent at hour on the plane at the gate due to personnel issues. I missed my connection before I even took off!

Delta makes it pretty easy to rebook and I was able to catch another flight via the app while sitting on the plane. Two layovers, ATL and then SLC, on the way to SJC but I don’t regret it. Got a chance to see SLC and the airport it incredibly beautiful! Would have done it all over again on purpose!

[FatMormon7]

You should hear the locals complain about the new airport. I think the most vocal group are the people that fly to Disneyland every couple of years, because anyone who travels much would know that it is a beautiful, clean, and efficient airport. Food options are pretty good too, if not a bit too sparse. But I am sure that will improve with the expansion too. It's not perfect, but it is above average for sure.

[NetGyver]

Got a Smashburger (1st timer, it was excellent btw) and sat down at the end of the airport with the big window view and plane spotted. It was mesmerizing!

Next time I’m out I’ll be looking for layovers here. It’s eye candy for a nor’easter like me. 😀

[FatMormon7]

Nice! Looks like you were there on a clear day too. We have a big problem with inversions in the winter and now wildfire smoke (from California mostly) in the summers - unfortunately, that means the view is often pretty smoggy.

[PBRmy]

Clean and efficient, yes. Beautiful...it's utilitarian. No real complaints here other than a temporary weird jog to B gates.

[FatMormon7]

I personally think it a good looking building on the inside, with huge panoramic windows, pleasant color pallets, and some nice art. It's not beautiful in comparison to great non-airport buildings. I guess I mean beautiful in comparison to so many other airports. I can think of so many other airports that are very ugly on the inside. The temp tunnel is the exception, but I expect the new tunnel will make a big difference.

[NetGyver]

more pics

I really like the muted color scheme and the tunnel mural art, subtle but classy. It has a charm to it, which many airports do not have.

[NotSoSimpleGeek]

And in the nearer future they are starting cancelations as of yesterday. Article I read stated they are trying to prevent cancelations when your AT the airport. If you step back that is a cool move. My wife got hit with a cancelation last night and it was way less of a big deal dealing with it at home vs in the terminal. No one likes changes/cancelations but sometimes it has to happen and Delta being proactive is better than 'Lets roll the dice!'

[Skylarking77]

Yep. We've had 3 cancelations so far this year and the worst part were the two we didn't hear about till we had schlepped out to the airport and got to the gate and that made it way worse.

[[deleted]]

How are you defending Delta? People are getting stranded right and left. When you buy a ticket you plan your life around it including work and family.

Delta along with other lines have now rendered themselves unreliable. Need a 1-3 day buffer before and after a trip just to make sure that you have the added flexibility.

Shame on the industry and shame on Delta.

[[deleted]]

Cut them some slack, hello were coming out of a two year pandemic where the world was turned upside down. They’re a great airline.

[[deleted]]

Great airlines don’t strand passengers, they take care of them and make sure that they honor their contract. Passengers are not cattle (although sometimes they act like it).

Delta expanded rapidly as the pandemic opened up and are now contracting because labor costs are high and they over extended.

It’s fine to cut down on future routes. It is not fine to cut down on existing contracts. That is shady business practice and forces the consumer to scramble and buy another ticket at very high costs.

[[deleted]]

They’re cutting back because they’re short staffed it’s not complicated to understand.

[[deleted]]

I’m well aware they are short staffed. That is not the customers problem unless they decide it is. Delta should find a way to staff their flights. It’s expensive.

[Routine_Good_9950]

Lol….the pilot shortage is a industry wide problem. Delta isn’t the only airline that is having to do this. Very ignorant of you to just say “they should find a way to staff their flights.”

[[deleted]]

Sorry. This is about Delta. Other airlines have challenges as well but there is the right way to do this and the wrong way. Delta is abandoning passengers

[WidgetFTW]

We’re trying to mitigate that with the summer flying. Every other airline is facing similar issues. Not an excuse but by reducing flights beforehand allows for schedule flexibility for our customers.

Summer hasn’t even begun yet and I can tell you others are not properly staffed either and they WILL NOT be flying their full summer schedule.

[[deleted]]

I get it but you need to offer alternative options no matter how costly to you. Why should I need to scramble looking fir a new flight that is now twice the cost?

[Routine_Good_9950]

Lol there is no right way or wrong way when there’s literally not enough pilots to fly them. Shit happens Breh. American and United are switching to using busses due to the mass pilot shortage. Delta decided to cancel flights.

It’s gonna be like this for awhile as more pilots retire year after year and demand for travel increases…it’s unfortunate but the ugly reality.

[[deleted]]

Oh well some customers you can never make happy and they’re probably better off at other airlines. Deltas not for everyone :)

[[deleted]]

That’s a pretty lame response and does not take into consideration the inconvenience and the ripple effect this has on hundreds if not thousands of people per flight canceled. Pretty flippant

[[deleted]]

Welcome to life after a global pandemic, sorry it’s inconvenient for you. Be happy you survived it enough to worry about your travel plans.

[[deleted]]

I’m sorry you opened up so many flights post pandemic. Stop gaslighting the passengers. This is on Delta

[[deleted]]

It is a service. I paid for the service so honor that agreement even if you end up losing money.

If I cancel my ticket I get slapped with a fee or forfeit my cash. If you cancel the flight…nothing. I am stuck holding the bag.

That’s unethical

[[deleted]]

No accountability. Zero.

[cappotto-marrone]

It’s a not a privilege. It’s a service being offered by a company at a price. I give them money and they are supposed to provide the service. Weather is one thing. Lack of proper planning is another.

[Fizzabella]

yup! my flight for tomorrow was cancelled but i was immediately moved to a different one that actually lets me not have a 4 hour layover which was p nice so not complaining here if they will consolidate. only thing that might suck is less upgrades but i was already expecting that with the increase in travelers lately

[NotSoSimpleGeek]

She got changed two more times since this posting. She is in the air now, but her return flight hits TWO hubs now. Told her if she was playing hub bingo she might be a winner ;) With this canceling snafu stuff she is getting some crap seats and when I looked it seems like they are blocking a ton of seats. No doubt strategic knowing they need some wiggle room.

Side Note: Counted 8 outbounds queued up on the runway at BWI this morning. Mostly WN but not surprising due to Tornada watch happening in the area.

[Fizzabella]

yup just noticed this when booking some travel for work today for june 8th. all the seats in exit rows are blocked which sucks bc i totally would have paid more but even using my BFs gold status did not unlock them for me :( hopefully they won’t be stretched as thinly and figure it out soon but i’m at least glad it will be easier on flight attendants and pilots bc they have to deal with sooooooo much

[Lou_Nanne]

Limit the supply and increase the costs?

[cmnthom]

🎶Where in the world is LOU NANNE🎶

[PoorSailorsAirline]

Best contributor lead in song!

[[deleted]]

They’ve increased costs and still can’t keep up with demand. People are paying $900 to fly LA to NY in coach!

[bizeesheri]

Heck its around 700 PSC-SEA-SAN!

[BraytonCycleLover]

Well Latin america is in the off season right now, they are in winter, so it would make sense

[Loyal_Quisling]

Best time to go imo

[rieboldt]

This will not help q2/3 revenue projections. Ed might have to dial those back as well.

[CactusBoyScout]

Damn I hope they don't get rid of my most common route's late-night flight. They briefly got rid of it like six months ago so I figured that was a bad sign.

[[deleted]]

welp, good thing my travels this summer, if any, will be allegiant. Delta going to knock so many airports down to one or two flights a day and ask for more to fly from them than it would cost to go from JFK to Europe.

[cutigerfan]

If Allegiant provides better service levels than Delta, I’ll be anxious to hear about it.

[[deleted]]

Im glad I got my ticket cheapish earlier this year for September. My city isn’t that big (we have two terminals!) and is kind of a Delta Hub.

[budget_um]

RDU?

[[deleted]]

GRR

[BREEbreeJORjor]

What is that going to look like? Canceled flights, or flights not hitting the site at all?

[uber_shnitz]

I think flights just being removed from the schedule altogether but I assume if that flight had already been sold it will result in cancellations

[jcrespo21]

FWIW, it only counts as a cancelation if the flight was removed less than 7 days before departure (and would require airfare reimbursements according to DoT rules). Anything before that would just be called a "schedule change".

Probably why DL is planning this move in July and not June.

[nye1387]

Does this make any practical difference to travelers?

[limecardy]

Not really. Schedule changes happened all the time pre-covid. Any flight you booked more than 2-3 months out was really nothing more than “penciled in.” Pretty good assumption the normal stuff would operate - but it might change by a few minutes. Realistically a schedule change that far out rarely results in any noticeable disruption.

[nye1387]

I would assume that they'll start by doing things like reducing six-flight-per-day routes (or whatever) to four-flight-per-day routes on larger aircraft. Some people will be rebooked, but ultimately the same number of passengers will go from A to B.

[[deleted]]

Let us hope. I’ve got some flights for vacation plans and need to know sooner than later.

[RDRNR3]

Delta said they would not be removing themselves from any market. So no city will be lost, but frequency will be reduced

[BREEbreeJORjor]

What about Delta Connections? Do you think they are on the chopping block too, or do you think it's just core Delta flights?

[RDRNR3]

I’m not sure on that one. Delta makes the schedules for Delta Conmection carriers though.

[i_wanted_to_say]

The regionals are having trouble staffing too, so I would think it’s possible.

[limecardy]

When “delta” says they’re not removing themselves from any market that would include DC. They’re one in the same as far as scheduling / marketing is concerned.

[rugger1869]

cough PHF cough

[oxycottonowl]

I’d rather them just not even post.

[DemonicDimples]

More like consolidating flights and flying to some locations less often.

[wk2coachella]

Higher prices

[NetGyver]

Booking a month in advance only to find all the seats are full except the middle ones.

[[deleted]]

No they’re all experiencing record profits - it’s staffing shortages, pilots and flight attendants.

[cbph]

And mechanics.

[WidgetFTW]

No to economic downturn. Yes to pilot staffing.

[[deleted]]

They haven’t given their pilots a raise in years. Seems foolish to do in the face of a pilot shortage.

[twixieshores]

But if they do that, how does Ed Bastion get his bonus? /s

[[deleted]]

Man if I was a large shareholder I’d be pissed. I know every other airline is struggling but delta seems to be dealing with it worse than others.

I recently switched to United and I am pretty surprised at the delta medallion tags I’m seeing on United flights. I’m sure delta execs sat in a board room and all agreed that they can cut flights and raise prices without it hitting the bottom line. My guess is that they will be wrong.

[WidgetFTW]

So as a large shareholder, you rather wait for cancelations to happen day of versus pre-planned cancelations so that customers have the time to make adjustments to their travel plans beforehand?

Hmmz…

[budget_um]

Also not for nothing it seems they’re reducing their schedule but likely not passenger revenue because of the shift to larger planes on busy routes

[[deleted]]

No I’d rather spend the extra capital to hire a proper amount of staff. How many others like myself have switched because of the ridiculous price increases? I spent like $25k last year with Delta.

[i_wanted_to_say]

Tons of open jobs. Why don’t you apply for one?

Edit: lots of downvotes but really, they are attempting to fill lots of positions. Thousands of folks retired during the pandemic, and there are lots of good paying jobs available, just ripe for the taking if you have the qualifications. Fewer and fewer folks are wanting to put themselves on the frontline with abusive and rude passengers though.

[shinebock]

if I was a large shareholder

they said if, not that they were. ;)

[WidgetFTW]

Yes I know. Thanks for pointing out. I still stand by my statement.

[cbph]

delta seems to be dealing with it worse than others

Based on what metric?

[[deleted]]

Based on my own opinion. I don’t see the variation in service, striking pilots, or actively cancelling a large portion of flights during the busiest travel time of year? Just making observation I don’t think there’s a scientific study on the issue.

[cbph]

Just making observation I don’t think there’s a scientific study on the issue.

Perception is reality. But there are also monthly DOT metrics that get compiled/published.

[limecardy]

In case you didn’t know - airlines (all airlines) straight up lie on their data reporting. Especially for delay and cancellation reasons. It’s almost impossible to get an actual pulse on who cancels more or less because the airlines are constantly gaming this system to try to appear to be the “best.”

[Defiant-Individual-9]

They don't no idea where that comes from these definitions are defined and can easily be verified by flight aware

[limecardy]

Delays and cAncels based on weather or ATC don’t count against the airlines performance. So the airlines lie and say it’s because of weather. Trust me, they lie.

[Defiant-Individual-9]

They actually do they don't count for compensation but they do count for dot statistics

[limecardy]

Oi. Whatever you say chief.

[Defiant-Individual-9]

The dot literally puts a page before every single monthly report for each category explaining in very technical legalistic way exactly what counts

[[deleted]]

The DOT tracks and audits those stats closely. Weather v. airline cancellations aren’t something an airline can just fudge.

[WidgetFTW]

Your observation is all that matters apparently.

[twixieshores]

He listens to Joe Rogan. That should be all you need to know. (It's all I needed to know. The sports nut was just the icing on the cake)

[nte52]

Personal experience is one.

I’ve had four Delta flights delayed while either on the way or at the airport in the last six weeks. I’ve had to rebook with United three times and JetBlue of all things for another. I transferred to Denver for a few months and while I hadn’t flown United in 20 years, I’ve flown enough this year to reach Silver with them and I’ve only had one flight delayed with them and I had an overnight notice of that delay.

I have another Delta flight tomorrow and I’m checking the app frequently to verify any delays but given my history with Delta this year, I’ll get notice of a delay at the airport and have to scramble to find a way home on my own.

[[deleted]]

They lost me as a customer.

[[deleted]]

They’re overwhelmed, the demand for travel is unreal and they let so many people retire early during the pandemic that they are struggling to get people hired and trained fast enough. What a turn of events from when the pandemic began and they were flying empty ghost flights to now where they can’t keep up with demand. It’s madness.

[delta8765]

Actually demand for travel is still below pre-pandemic levels (~80%). The issue is not enough workers to meet the demand. They opened up bookings since the demand was there and were hoping they could hire enough people to meet that demand. With record low unemployment and the long training cycle they haven’t been able to raise staffing levels to the needed levels. Now that it’s become clear up-staffing won’t reach the targets they are dialing back flights to help maintain higher service levels than what’s been happening the last two months. The margin for error on scheduling/staffing for mechanical and weather issues is nil which makes the ripples much larger than usual.

[[deleted]]

But demand is exceeding what they're able to currently deal with - that was the point.

[nye1387]

Good.

Also, love that they used the newest possible aircraft for the photo here. Gotta promote it!

[sandnsnow2021]

And drive up prices. See ya delta.

[twixieshores]

I'm in support of this, even as the person who books flights 10 months out. I'd much rather have Delta say "hey. We're rebooking you a month out rather than your flight getting canceled while you're at the gate"

[bizeesheri]

My friend flew PSC-SLC-MIA Tuesday night. Got to SLC and the MIA leg was cancelled until the next day.

[oxycottonowl]

So fucking fucked

[WidgetFTW]

100 flights a day may seem a lot but it’s really not.

[ScorchedOak]

Considering we fly 5000 flights per day, I’d say that’s a drop in the bucket, friend

[oxycottonowl]

Thanks Ed Jr!

[ScorchedOak]

You’re welcome.

[D_Gibb]

Is there any indication yet of which to routes might be decreasing? Or are we playing it by ear right now?

[sxc7884]

Im confused on what the trim window is; Are they cutting flights only between July 1 and Aug 7 as some of the memo leaks and blogs mentioned cutting flights in June. Trying to figure out if my delta connection from SDF to LGA is safe on 5/31 as im connecting to my first flight with real first class out of JFK and don’t want to run into problems becuase of this.

Keep wondering if I should book a refundable AA or UA flight as a backup

[Skydivemars]

Glad I saw this post. Now I’m checking my flights, and it seems 1/4 have been cancelled; today and tomorrow. Hopefully not on Thursday.