Delta to close regional airline

Comair operated a fleet of Bombardier jets

Delta Airlines has announced plans to shut down its regional subsidiary, Comair.

In a letter to staff on Friday (27 July), Don Bornhorst, Senior Vice President of Comair, said the closure had been a “difficult decision”, but one that was made necessary by the “significant changes in the economic and competitive conditions in the airline industry”.

“The unit costs of regional flying have evolved,” Bornhorst said. “In response, Delta recently announced its plans to reduce the total number of regional jets in its network while adding more mainline flying. This includes reducing the number of 50-seat regional jets from nearly 350 aircraft to 125 or fewer in the upcoming years. As a result of this reduction… Delta has made the difficult decision to cease Comair’s operations.”

Based in Cincinnati, Comair, which operates under the brand name ‘Delta Connection’, operates regional passenger services to a large number of destinations in eastern and central US. It accounted for approximately 1% of Delta’s total capacity. 

It marks the latest in a series of airline closures this year. 2012 has already seen the end of airlines such as Air Australia, Cimber Sterling and Spanair, as well as national carriers such as Hungary-based Malev and Uruguay’s Pluna.

By Mark Elliott, 29 July 2012, Sunday 2:17 AM