RDU’s busiest airlines announce cuts to domestic flights because of coronavirus
The two busiest airlines at Raleigh-Durham International Airport announced Tuesday that they would cut domestic flights because of reduced demand caused by concerns over the coronavirus.
Delta Air Lines and American Airlines joined United and JetBlue, which announced last week that they would trim their domestic schedules in response to the COVID-19 outbreak. As of Tuesday morning, 730 people have tested positive for the coronavirus in 36 states and the District of Columbia and at least 26 people have died, according to The New York Times.
Delta said Tuesday it would cut its domestic capacity 10% to 15% to align with demand. The airline indicated further changes are possible, saying “the company will continue to make adjustments to planned capacity as demand trends change.”
Meanwhile, American said it would reduce its domestic capacity 7.5% in April compared to its current schedule. Together, Delta and American carry more than 56% of passengers that fly in or out of RDU.
Neither airline pinpointed which domestic flights would be cut from their schedules. RDU referred questions about the changes to the airlines.
U.S. carriers had already suspended or reduced international service to areas where the virus was most prevalent, including China, South Korea and Italy. In addition to their first domestic cuts, Delta and American both announced further reductions in international service Tuesday.
Among the changes, American said it would suspend service from Charlotte and Chicago to Rome through early summer and that flights from Philadelphia to Rome would be halted through the end of April. The start of seasonal service from Charlotte to Barcelona has been delayed until early June.
The airline also announced further cuts in flights to mainland China and Hong Kong and said flights from Los Angeles and Dallas-Fort Worth to Tokyo would be made on smaller planes starting in May.
Delta did not announce specific flight changes but said it would trim its trans-Atlantic capacity 15% to 20% and it trans-Pacific capacity 65%.
“As the virus has spread, we have seen a decline in demand across all entities, and we are taking decisive action to also protect Delta’s financial position,” Delta CEO Ed Bastian said in a written statement. “As a result, we have made the difficult, but necessary decision to immediately reduce capacity and are implementing cost reductions and cash flow initiatives across the organization.”
Delta said it had instituted a hiring freeze and is offering “voluntary leave options” to employees. It is also parking planes it doesn’t need and evaluating whether to retire older ones earlier than planned.
Seven people have tested positive for coronavirus in North Carolina, all in the Triangle, and each one contracted the virus elsewhere, according to state health officials. Five of them attended a Biogen corporate conference in Boston in late February, where more than two dozen people were infected.
People with questions or concerns about COVID-19 can call the state’s phone line at 866-462-3821.
