Delta and Northwest pilots have reached a tentative agreement on a joint contract to take effect upon closing of the proposed Delta-Northwest merger.

The pilot groups also have established a separate process designed to establish a single pilot seniority list by the close of the merger.

Delta pilots will own 3.5% and Northwest pilots 2.38% of the new Delta Air Lines if the Northwest-Delta merger goes through, according to a Delta filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The tentative agreement is subject to ratification by both airlines' pilot groups.

Delta in April announced that it is combining with Northwest in an all-stock transaction. The merger, expected to close later this year, is subject to Justice Department and shareholder approval.

4th Quarter ’08 Capacity Reductions
Source: NWA Press Release

Northwest will reduce its system mainline capacity (domestic and international) in the fourth quarter of 2008 by 8.5% - 9.5% versus the fourth quarter of 2007. This includes the reductions previously announced in April.

Steenland added, “No domestic station closures are planned as a result of these capacity reductions. Instead, we will pare unprofitable flying while maintaining the scope and presence of our network.”

The airline has not yet finalized the specific employee impacts related to the reduced flying. However, for the resulting headcount reductions, NWA will first look to voluntary separation programs such as early-outs.

As a result of the reduced capacity, Northwest is removing a combination of 14 B757s and Airbus narrowbody aircraft from the fleet.

In addition, the DC-9 fleet will be reduced from 94 aircraft at the start of 2008 to 61 aircraft (20 DC9-30s and 41 DC9-40s/50s) by year-end.

Northwest also accelerated the retirement of three freighter aircraft from its cargo operation.

Northwest Cancels Transatlantic Flights
Source: copyright 2008, Travel Weekly

High fuel costs have prompted Northwest and transatlantic partner KLM to seasonally suspend one flight and cancel two others on Oct.1.

Minneapolis/St. Paul-Paris will be seasonally suspended and Detroit-Dusseldorf and Hartford, Conn.-Amsterdam will be canceled.

American Airlines and regional affiliate American Eagle will reduce their departures from Chicago O’Hare, New York LaGuardia, Dallas/Fort Worth and St. Louis as part of previously announced plans to cut fourth-quarter domestic capacity.

American will ax 28 flights from Chicago, 19 from Dallas, eight from St. Louis and five from New York LaGuardia. American Eagle and American Connection will eliminate 34 from Chicago, 35 from St. Louis, 23 from Dallas and 37 from New York LaGuardia.

As a result of fourth-quarter flight cuts, American Eagle will eliminate service to Albany, N.Y.; Providence, R.I.; Harrisburg, Pa.; Samana, Dominican Republic; and San Luis Obispo, Calif.

As part of last week’s announced plan to cut capacity in the fourth quarter, Continental Airlines will eliminate a total of 43 routes from its three U.S. hubs, starting Sept. 3.

The airline also said it would reduce frequency in certain markets. All told, Continental will reduce domestic mainline and regional capacity by 6.4% in the fourth quarter.

From Houston, Continental will no longer fly to Cali, Colombia; Chattanooga, Tenn.; Guayaquil, Ecuador; Hartford, Conn.; Monclova, Mexico; Montgomery, Ala.; Oakland, Calif.; Palm Springs, Calif.; Reno, Nev.; Sarasota, Fla.; Tallahassee, Fla.; and Washington-Dulles.

From Newark, Continental will eliminate service to Albuquerque, N.M.; Cologne, Germany; Santiago, Dominican Republic; Sarasota, Fla.; Salt Lake City; San Jose, Calif.; and Tucson, Ariz.

From Cleveland, the airline will end service to Austin, Texas; Birmingham, Ala.; Charleston, S.C.; Charleston, W. Va.; Cincinnati; Des Moines, Iowa; Detroit; Green Bay, Wis.; Greensboro, N.C.; Lexington, Ky.; Little Rock, Ark.; Memphis; Nashville; Norfolk, Va.; Oklahoma City; Omaha, Neb.; Ottawa, Canada; San Antonio, Texas; San Diego, Calif.; Sarasota, Fla., Savannah, Ga., Toledo, Ohio; Tulsa, Okla.; and Washington-Dulles.

Continental will withdraw completely from 15 airports, six of them international. The airline will no longer fly to Denpasar, Bali, Indonesia; Oakland, Calif.; Cali, Colombia; Palm Springs, Calif.; Chattanooga, Tenn.; Reno, Nev.; Cologne, Germany; Santiago, Dominican Republic; Green Bay, Wis.; Sarasota, Fla.; Guayaquil, Ecuador; Tallahassee, Fla.; Monclova, Mexico; Toledo, Ohio; and Montgomery, Ala.

As reported, Continental will eliminate 3,000 positions across all work groups. The airline said the majority of job cuts will be achieved through voluntary programs. The specific number of involuntary furloughs will not be determined until August, said Continental, after the company knows how many employees choose the voluntary programs.

Continental Looks To Partner With United, Join Star Alliance
Source: copyright 2008, Travel Weekly

Continental and United have agreed to link their networks and services in a move that includes Continental joining the Star Alliance.

Delta has notified the U.S. Transportation Department that it intends to scale back its U.S.-Mexico service this summer and fall because of soaring fuel prices.

The carrier said it will convert a dozen routes, including six Delta Connection services, from year-round to seasonal operations, suspending flights in the August-November period. Specific dates were not cited in the notice.

Affected mainline routes are New York-Puerto Vallarta, New York-Cabo San Lucas, Orlando-Mexico City, Salt Lake City-Mexico City, Atlanta-Acapulco and Washington-Cancun. These city pairs are not major markets for Delta, as the airline operates flights in these markets as infrequently as once a week.

The six Delta connection services are all operated by ExpressJet from Los Angeles and serve Culiacan, La Paz, Los Mochis, Mazatlan, Torreon and Zacatecas.

Delta's planned job cuts double to 4,000
Source: copyright 2008, Travel Weekly

Delta said 4,000 employees will participate in the airline's voluntary severance program, double the number it initially targeted.

The 4,000 employees represent about 7% of Delta's workforce. Most severance participants will leave the airline in the fall.

In an effort to boost sales and recover costs, Midwest Airlines is planning to pack more seats into its airplanes, slim down its current coach seats and enable passengers to upgrade to a more comfortable seat.

The Milwaukee-based airline will reconfigure the cabins of its remaining fleet of 25 airplanes, all Boeing 717s.

Most major U.S. airlines are drastically cutting domestic capacity in the fourth quarter, but not Southwest.

Spirit Airlines said it could eliminate up to 416 jobs in Florida on Aug. 1, according to a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) the airline filed with the state’s Agency for Workforce Innovation.

The airline is based in Florida and its largest base of operations is at Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood International Airport. The carrier employs about 2,300 to 2,600 people.

US Airways said Thursday that it plans to reduce its fourth-quarter domestic capacity by 6% to 8% and will cut its staff by about 1,700 employees as a result.

The flight cuts will mainly impact the airline's Las Vegas operations. Effective Sept. 3, night flights out of Las Vegas will be eliminated, except for limited service to the East Coast.

As a result, overall daily departures from Las Vegas will drop to 81 (down from 141 in September 2007) and will drop further to 74 by the end of 2008.

In addition, the carrier plans to reduce its 2009 domestic capacity by 7% to 9%.

In addition, US Airways has matched a move initiated by American Airlines to charge $15 for the first checked bag (United also matched this fee).

The fee will go into effect for tickets booked on or after July 9 and will apply to all flights within the U.S. and flights to/from Canada, Latin America and the Caribbean. It will not apply to customers flying in first or envoy classes or those who have premier status with the United or Star Alliance frequent-flyer programs.

Additional cost-savings plans include inflight beverage purchase program: The carrier will charge for all beverages in coach cabins beginning Aug. 1.

US Airways To End Curbside Check-In At Some Airports
Source: copyright 2008, Travel Weekly

US Airways will no longer provide curbside check-in at 34 U.S. airports on July 9, when the airline implements its $15 charge for checking the first bag, according to published reports.

Affected airports include New York Kennedy, Washington Dulles and Pittsburgh.

US Airways will continue to provide curbside check-in at 23 other U.S. airports -- including its hubs in Phoenix, Philadelphia and Charlotte, N.C. -- but non-union skycaps won't be providing the service. The airline will be replacing skycaps with its own workers, as a union contract stipulates that airline employees must collect the new baggage fee, according to published reports.

As the nation's air carriers slash flights and remove planes from service to reduce their sky-high jet fuel bills, travelers using the state's regional airports are getting hit hard with service cuts and airfare increases.

A number of small airports -- Toledo, Lansing, Flint and Grand Rapids among them -- are seeing double-digit reductions in seat capacity, with airlines such as Northwest either cutting flights, switching to smaller aircraft or both.

For the thousands of Metro area travelers who use regional airports, the service cuts mean fewer flight choices, often smaller, more-crowded planes and higher fares.

The number of seats available flying out of Toledo is down 59 percent from last year, for example, and in Lansing it's a 50 percent decline. Meanwhile, fares are up 15 percent to 30 percent over last summer.

The airlines' goal is simple: Reduce seat capacity and increase demand, so it's easier to raise fares and still fill planes.

With fuel bills more than doubling in the past year, the financially struggling airline industry can no longer keep fares below cost, industry experts said.

The smaller regional jets and turboprop aircraft used to service smaller airports are particularly difficult to operate at a profit, said Bill Swelbar, an industry analyst and research engineer for the International Center for Air Transportation at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Mass.

"These smaller planes are there to feed into hubs like Detroit," Swelbar said. "And many times, there'll be lots of competition for customers from small airports that keep fares from rising as fast as oil costs."

At big-city hubs, in contrast, airlines can typically raise prices faster when market conditions change. Travelers attracted to regional airports because of their shorter lines, fewer security hassles and low parking rates are noticing the cutbacks.

The popularity of small airports surged in recent decades as consumers sought easy-to-use alternatives to crowded, big-city hubs. Now, record high fuel prices -- Northwest Airline Corp.'s bill this year is expected to hit over $5 billion, up $1 billion -- are putting airlines in a tough spot.

They need to maintain service to small communities to feed passengers to their mainline flights leaving hubs like Detroit Metropolitan Airport.

But they also need to cut their fuel bills by reducing flights and plane size, and set fares high enough to cover surging fuel costs without pricing too many travelers out of the market.

The airlines say as long as fuel prices stay high, fares will continue to increase, which will lead to fewer fliers and even more capacity cuts.

By October, seating capacity at the Lansing and Toledo airports will be down both from eliminating flights and switching larger planes to smaller ones. Smaller planes often mean smaller overhead bins and, in many cases, no first-class service.

Northwest is trying to negotiate a new Essential Air Service subsidy contract with the federal government to increase the amount of money the company receives to fly to the Upper Peninsula cities of Escanaba and Iron Mountain to help cover fuel costs.

Without an increase in the subsidy, which is given to carriers who service low-volume rural airfields, Northwest would lose money each time a flight took off, though the company said it's committed to serving the small towns.