Delta cutting flights to ‘relieve pressure’ on operations – By Mary Schlangenstein (Bloomberg) / May 26, 2022
Delta Air Lines is cutting flights just ahead of the busy Memorial Day weekend and through the summer to help it recover faster from bad weather, higher-than-expected worker absences and other issues that have rattled recent operations.
The airline said it will trim about 100 flights a day in the US and Latin America from July 1 through Aug. 7 to help bolster the reliability of remaining flights. Delta said additional adjustments could be made, hinting at possible further reductions. The nearer-term cancellations for the upcoming holiday weekend initially disclosed in a memo sent to employees late Wednesday, are designed “to relieve pressure by pro-actively thinning the schedule over Memorial Day and through the balance of June.”
Delta has prided itself on its relatively low cancellation and flight-delay rate compared with other carriers but the last-minute decision to slash its schedule shows how precarious the ability to staff flights has become. Nearly all US carriers cut initial second-quarter capacity, with some trimming into the third quarter, as they struggled to balance surging demand with a pilot shortage.
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