Delta Weighs Additional Reductions

Delta Air Lines will cut more flights next year, but it is unclear whether Memphis International Airport will sustain further losses, company officials said Tuesday.

Speaking at the Deutsche Bank Aviation and Transportation Conference in New York, Delta executives said next year's flying capacity is expected to be down 2-3 percent from this year. That's on top of a 20 percent reduction this fall from peak summer levels.

Delta spokesman Trebor Banstetter said, "We haven't broken down our 2012 capacity reductions by market yet. We should have a better idea later in the year."

The disclosure of further cuts comes at a time when Delta's Memphis hub is reeling from dramatic reductions announced in March.

The airline is cutting 25 percent of its flights at the airport and 8-10 percent of seat capacity as part of a plan to turn a profit despite higher fuel prices.

Memphis' vaunted international nonstop to Amsterdam was reduced from daily to four times weekly starting this month, for example, and connections to many smaller regional markets were eliminated.

Delta executives said the world's second-largest airline is focused on flying only those routes that are profitable at inflated fuel prices.

President Ed Bastian told the investor conference it isn't sustainable for the company to over-rely on profits from summer travel season. That's why the 20 percent cut this fall is much deeper than usual.

"It's what you need to do," Bastian said. "For us to make money in the summer and give it back in the winter, we're done doing that. We need to make money year-round."

- Wayne Risher: (901) 529-2874