Aug. 28--It's been the summer of downsizing for Delta Air Lines hubs in Cincinnati, Memphis and Minneapolis, but those changes are not expected to affect Savannah flights.
In fact, the Savannah/Hilton Head International Airport is looking at the potential for increased Delta traffic as planes servicing Savannah get bigger, said airport spokeswoman Lori Lynah.
"Delta's projections into 2013 indicate we can expect to see more available seats as the airline phases out its 50-seat regional jets in favor of larger equipment," she said.
At the end of July, Delta announced its Comair subsidiary, based outside of Cincinnati, would cease operations Sept. 29.
At the time of the announcement, Don Bornhorst, senior vice president of Delta Connection, said the airline was reducing the number of 50-seat regional jets from 350 to 125 or fewer in upcoming years, with no reductions in the number of Delta flights planned at Cincinnati.
But a report in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution Monday indicated that Delta was significantly cutting jobs, making huge cutbacks in flights -- or both -- at Cincinnati, Minneapolis and Memphis.
In June, Delta announced it would cut another 25 flights in Memphis, bringing the number to about 125 flights, down from about 240 a few years ago.
And in August, the airline announced it would shut down a ground-handling subsidiary near Minneapolis and moved its vacation package subsidiary from Minneapolis to Atlanta.
"Looking ahead at the Delta schedules into next spring, it looks like we'll be getting the same number of flights, but with larger airplanes, making more seats available on every flight," Lynah said.
Copyright 2012 - Savannah Morning News, Ga.
