Delta continues International Expansion

[FDJ2]

Delta Air Lines Continues International Expansion With New Direct Flights to Dubai and Pisa
Thursday May 31, 2:58 pm ET

ATLANTA, May 31, 2007 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL - News) continues its international expansion this week with the addition of non-stop flights from Atlanta to Dubai and New York JFK to Pisa. The new flights are among 14 new international routes being launched by Delta this summer.


The new routes further position Delta as a global carrier and the only U.S. airline to operate non-stop service to Dubai and Pisa. Delta is already a leading U.S. carrier serving Italy.

``We are excited to expand our global reach with two key destinations: Dubai, a major financial and business center in the Gulf; and Pisa, one of the world's top travel destinations,'' said Glen Hauenstein, executive vice president of Network and Revenue Management. ``With the added freight capacity to and from the U.S., Delta's new services will also benefit freight forwarders to cargo shippers around the world.''

Delta will service Dubai with a Boeing 777-200ER aircraft seating up to 268 passengers and featuring Delta's refurbished business and economy class service. Flights to Pisa will be served with a Boeing 767-300ER aircraft with 214 seats. These flights are two of five new trans-Atlantic routes to be launched this summer.

Customers on both flights can enjoy Delta's award-winning BusinessElite service featuring all-leather sleeper seats with 60 inches of legroom, innovative food offerings designed by celebrity chef Michelle Bernstein, on-demand personal in-seat entertainment boasting more than 20 first-run and popular classic movies, a variety of TV programs, a broad range of music, and a suite of 12 video games. Economy class customers also will benefit from new all-leather economy seats, amenity kits and enhanced food offerings.
Delta's new non-stop service between Atlanta and Dubai is scheduled as follows: --------------------------------------------------------------------- Flight Departs Arrives Effective Frequency --------------------------------------------------------------------- DL8 Atlanta at Dubai at May 31, 2007 Five times per week, 10:40 PM 8:35 PM excluding Mon & Fri (next day) --------------------------------------------------------------------- DL7 Dubai at Atlanta at June 1, 2007 Five times per week 10:45 PM 5:40 AM excluding Tue & Sat (next day) ---------------------------------------------------------------------

Delta's new non-stop service between NY JFK and Pisa is scheduled as follows: --------------------------------------------------------------------- Flight Departs Arrives Effective Frequency --------------------------------------------------------------------- DL126 NY JFK Pisa at May 31, 2007 Four times per week 8:15 PM 11:00 AM (Tue, Thu, Fri & Sat) (next day) --------------------------------------------------------------------- DL127 Pisa at JFK at June 1, 2007 Four times per week 1:35PM 5:05 PM (Mon, Wed, Fri & Sat) ---------------------------------------------------------------------

 

[typhoonpilot]

A quick check of the cost of Business Class for that wonderful 60 inch pitch seat shows a round trip cost of $7987 to Dubai. Compare this to Emirates at $7228 from JFK. With Emirates you get:

1)At Emirates, we know that service on the ground can be just as important as in the air. To make your journey a relaxing experience from start to finish, we offer our First and Business Class passengers a complimentary chauffeur service. Arrange a pick-up in your arrival destination or your departure city. In addition, you can be chauffeur-driven to and from your hotel for extended layovers (where available). This service ensures the famous Emirates attention to detail begins at your doorstep.

2) 600 Channels of Audio, Video, and interactive entertainment. Including about 120 on demand movies in English all shown on a 15 inch personal monitor ( 19 inches in the new 777-300ER/ULRs )

3) In the A340-500 the Business Class seat pitch is still an industry lagging 60 inches, but in the 777-300ER/ULR non-stop service it has seats with a 72" pitch that recline to form 78" flat beds with ample room for taller passengers.


Typhoonpilot

 

[Pat Fabin]

No question our business elite needs some updating. Lie-flat seats are coming with next year's 777 deliveries, and a new business elite product is coming.

Still its a good product, and I think there's plenty of room for a little competition out to Dubai. At least people have a US carrier to fly on now.

 

[Mooneymite]

Following the lemmings

Delta continues to expand its international route system as it tries to re-create itself from bankruptcy.

The head-shed bean counters have noticed that international routes are much more lucrative than domestic routes, so with single-mindedness, the business school eggheads have taken up the mantra, "internation is good, domestic is bad".

Meanwhile Delta's domestic fleet is shrinking as it uses RJ's to replace aircraft that are shifted from its domestic system to its international system.

Excuse me, but haven't we already had enough examples of major carriers that neglected their domestic feed?

Where are Pan AM and TWA? Didn't they fly all those "lucrative international routes"? Didn't they shrivel and die on the vine without their own domestic feed?

Do the Delta geniuses in Widget wonderland really think that other carriers are going to turn over their passengers to Delta forever? Don't those guys understand that Southwest can buy B-787's and carry their own passengers on the lucrative international segments?

International expansion is great, but it must be accompanied by a strong domestic feed. That point has been proven over and over again.

Will Delta be the next lemming over the cliff?

 

[typhoonpilot]

No question our business elite needs some updating. Lie-flat seats are coming with next year's 777 deliveries, and a new business elite product is coming.

Still its a good product, and I think there's plenty of room for a little competition out to Dubai. At least people have a US carrier to fly on now.

60 inch seat pitch is a decent product, but the trend is towards Business Class with lie flat seats. Good to see Delta going that way.

In regards to having a U.S. choice that is certainly nice from a patriotic standpoint, but U.S. carriers are generally inferior to foreign carriers in service standards and comfort.


Typhoonpilot

 

[ACL65PILOT]

Delta knows that they need to go that way. If they do not they will not be able to compete in the LHR market.

 

[johnsonrod]

Delta continues to expand its international route system as it tries to re-create itself from bankruptcy.

The head-shed bean counters have noticed that international routes are much more lucrative than domestic routes, so with single-mindedness, the business school eggheads have taken up the mantra, "internation is good, domestic is bad".

Meanwhile Delta's domestic fleet is shrinking as it uses RJ's to replace aircraft that are shifted from its domestic system to its international system.

Excuse me, but haven't we already had enough examples of major carriers that neglected their domestic feed?

Where are Pan AM and TWA? Didn't they fly all those "lucrative international routes"? Didn't they shrivel and die on the vine without their own domestic feed?

Do the Delta geniuses in Widget wonderland really think that other carriers are going to turn over their passengers to Delta forever? Don't those guys understand that Southwest can buy B-787's and carry their own passengers on the lucrative international segments?

International expansion is great, but it must be accompanied by a strong domestic feed. That point has been proven over and over again.

Will Delta be the next lemming over the cliff?

Since I fly an RJ, I define an RJ as a 50 seat jet (although the Dojet and E135 can also be classified as RJs with fewer seats). I would not regard an E170 or even a CR9 as a "standard RJ." Some of NWA's older Diesel 9s have fewer seats than the E170/CR9/E190.

As far as I know, the MD88s, 737-800s and most 757s aren't going anywhere soon. Some ex-TWA ETOPS 757s will be deployed to Europe similar to CAL's strategy on the thinner-routes. Add domestic/Latin American-flown 737-700s and primarily domestic E190s flown by mainline pilots to the picture and you have a reasonably strong domestic platform. Over 100 757s will still be flying domestically - that's not too bad. Personally, I think the Shuttle E170 is a very strong and versatile aircraft too for passenger feed - much nicer than any 50-seat RJ (including my own E145 which is non passenger friendly) and more cost effective. And note that DAL is gradually reducing its 50-seat RJ feed and adding larger CR7s and CR9s (Skywest) to the E170 feed. Sounds like Delta is thinking about fleet deployment correctly if you ask me - put the bigger aircraft on the more lucrative routes (international) and ensure cheaper but more comfortable domestic feed to protect margins in a highly cost competitive market.

 

[Pat Fabin]

Mooney,

Pan Am had no domestic feed until they tried to get some by purchasing National. By then it was too late. Delta is simply rebalancing assets...we used to only get 20% of our revenue from international. Now to goal is 40-50% with a well diversified mix of destinations throughout the world. Having all of our eggs in one basket is bad, especially with what has become of the basic domestic market.

Typhoon,

No kidding our US products are generally inferior service-wise. Unfortunately we can't fire the Flight Attendants at 30 any longer (ala Signapore Airlines and countless others). We also aren't propped up with government subsidies either, like a few of our EU friends. I wish we had all the great amenities that Emerites and other airlines have, but it would probably be wasted on the American consumer....everybody wants something for nothing in this country...and thanks to Airlines like Skybus, and soon-to-be Virgin USA, they sometimes get it. We are getting TVs in our 737s starting this fall, however. That has to be worth something.

 

[jonjuan]

Unfortunately we can't fire the Flight Attendants at 30 any longer (ala Signapore Airlines and countless others). .

Hate to say it, but these grannies will kill your international premium service and in turn yields faster than anything else.

 

[abe44]

Hate to say it, but these grannies will kill your international premium service and in turn yields faster than anything else.

So are you saying that "big-ticket" business travelers choose their airline based on the age of the flight attendants?


Abe44