MINNEAPOLIS - Delta Air Lines plans to shrink its flying to small cities in the nation's midsection, including Iron Mountain-Kingsford, saying it can't make money on flights that have occupancy rates that are too low.
On Friday, Delta said it would adjust flying in 24 cities. Many of the affected airports, including Dickinson County's Ford Airport, are not served by any other airline.
There's a risk that some airports could lose air service altogether, although some of the routes are likely to be taken over by regional airlines. In some cases, Delta may seek an increase in its federal subsidy to retain service.
Most of the affected flights are on Delta's 34-seat Saab turboprops, which it is phasing out by the end of this year. Higher fuel prices have made it difficult to operate small planes profitably, because the fuel bill is divided among a small number of passengers.
Even the next-larger option, the 50-seat regional jets flown by Delta and other airlines, is often unprofitable for the same reason. Delta is retiring many of those planes, too.
Besides Michigan, the affected flights connect Delta's hubs to small cities in rural Iowa, Minnesota, Mississippi, North Dakota, and South Dakota.
Delta said it is losing $14 million a year on the flights included in Friday's announcement. Their occupancy averaged just 52 percent, compared to a system-wide average of 83 percent last year. The average occupancy out of Thief River Falls, Minn., was just 12 percent, Delta said. The flight from Greenville, Miss., runs just 27.6 percent full. Some flights have been completely empty, it said.
Dickinson County Controller Kay Pascoe said that the announcement was surprising, especially since enplanements at Ford Airport have been on the increase.
She added that the county will work with the Department of Transportation to continue air service.
"We'll pursue every avenue we can think of," said Pascoe.
In the Upper Peninsula, locations affected by the notification are:
- Iron Mountain-Kingsford, which has a 48.7 percent load factor.
- Escanaba, which has 55.2 percent load factor.
- Sault Ste Marie, which has 60 percent load factor.
Flights in 16 of the cities on Delta's list, including the three in the Upper Peninsula, are subsidized by the federal Essential Air Service program. The Transportation Department solicits bids from airlines to see how much money it would take to get them to serve a particular city. Delta said it is looking for regional haulers, including Great Lakes Aviation, to take over those routes.
The notification provides the U.S. Department of Transportation the opportunity to select a new carrier to begin service in affected EAS communities within a 90-day period.
Delta will continue to serve the affected communities through its Delta Connection partners until the DOT selects a replacement carrier and appropriate funding is available. Delta will to continue service in some subsidized and non-subsidized markets, but the subsidy rate must be higher in order for Delta to fly larger regional jets on the routes in question.
Great Lakes, which formerly served Ford Airport, operates 19-seat planes.
Delta Connection currently receives a combined annual EAS subsidy of $4.18 million to serve both Iron Mountain-Kingsford and Escanaba.
Connie Ness, manager of Delta County Airport in Escanaba, told the Detroit Free Press that she has talked with Delta officials and "they are keeping two jets for us. They are going to renegotiate the EAS contract. They don't see a problem."
However, the future of the EAS program itself is uncertain.
The U.S. House of Representatives voted earlier this year to phase out Essential Air Service for all but Alaska. An earlier aviation bill passed by the U.S. Senate retains most of the EAS program. Differences in the two bills have yet to be resolved.