Sadly, the announcement has been made by Delta Connection’s CEO, Don Bornhorst, that Comair is to shut down in September.
He states: “Delta recently announced its plans to reduce the total number of regional jets in its network while adding more mainline flying… As a result of this reduction and changes to its customer-focused business strategy, Delta has made the difficult decision to cease Comair’s operations.”
The airline was the first in the world to operate the current generation of 50-seat regional jets, when the Bombardier CRJ100 arrived in the early 1990s. Now, 20 years on, parent company Delta see the airline and its (now) old jets as a major drain on finances.
Thus, the final flight will operate on 29 September, and the major hubs at Atlanta and Cincinnati will be a different place.
Delta is choosing to focus more on mainline flying. Comair’s small CRJ’s are no longer viable following the decision to cut most of the 60+ fleet.
Despite this, the airline is adamant that its network coverage will remain unchanged, and that Comair only represented 1% of the airline’s operations. It promises that Cincinnati will remain an integral part of the route network.
So the days of the Delta regional jets are numbered. Many will likely end up in the desert, or with foreign carriers in emerging markets such as Africa.
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