Does anyone feel like dancing right now?

[General Lee]

Samba Time! Delta Begins Atlanta - Rio de Janeiro Service
Saturday October 1


ATLANTA, Oct. 1, 2005 (PRIMEZONE) -- Whether hitting the famous beaches at Copacabana or Ipanema, ascending the rocky spire of Corcovado, or soaking in the Dionysian spirit of Carnaval, customers now have access to more of Brazil's charms with Delta Air Lines' new daily service from Atlanta to Rio de Janeiro, beginning Saturday, October 1.

`Customers now have more choices to fly directly to either of Brazil's two largest cities -- Rio de Janeiro or Sao Paulo -- from Delta's convenient Latin American gateway in Atlanta,'' said James Sarvis, director-Latin America and Caribbean. ``International markets are growing in customer demand, and Brazil represents a very attractive and strategic tourist and business destination for travelers. Delta is pleased to be adding service to this rapidly growing market as we expand our international destinations.''
Delta is celebrating the new route with a ribbon-cutting ceremony at 7 p.m. at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, attended by a Georgia trade delegation headed by Doug Blissit, v.p.-Public Affairs; Craig Lesser of Georgia's Department of Economic Development; and Roberto Abdenur, Brazilian Ambassador to the U.S. A customer event at Lenox Mall Saturday and Sunday with Coke, and gate activities on Saturday will feature promoters dressed in traditional Brazilian attire distributing Brazilian food/appetizers in addition to Brazilian music playing in the gate area. Passengers will also receive inaugural gifts onboard. Delta's new Rio service is part of its continued focus on connecting customers to popular destinations in Latin America and the Caribbean. Since the beginning of 2005, the airline has initiated service to seven destinations in Latin America and the Caribbean and announced new service to an additional 12 locations.



ZIPPPYDADOOOO!


Bye Bye--General Lee

 

[michael707767]

Gen, clear messages PLS.

 

[Spooky 1]

Didn't Delta fly to Rio once before?

 

[G4G5]

Got their butt kicked by AA

 

[General Lee]

Got their butt kicked by AA

Seems like our South American traffic is GROWING at ATL. We now have 2 daily nonstops to GRU, 1 to Santiago, 1 to Buenos Aires, and 1 to Lima. (besides Rio, CCS, and BOG) And, you don't have to know Spanish when walking through the terminal like Miami. I think it will grow in popularity. A lot more connection possibilities too. You know I am right. Adios muchacho.

Bye Bye--General Lee

 

[Nindiri]

When are you guys going to add one to Managua? I'm getting tired of connecting in Miami.

 

[FN FAL]

Got their butt kicked by AA

Yea, but today's news is AA cut out 15 flights. Tomorrow, who knows? The pendulum in this industry has no friends.

 

[G4G5]

Seems like our South American traffic is GROWING at ATL. We now have 2 daily nonstops to GRU, 1 to Santiago, 1 to Buenos Aires, and 1 to Lima. (besides Rio, CCS, and BOG) And, you don't have to know Spanish when walking through the terminal like Miami. I think it will grow in popularity. A lot more connection possibilities too. You know I am right. Adios muchacho.

Bye Bye--General Lee

"Delta has made the strategic business decision to cancel its daily non-stop service from Atlanta to Buenos Aires and Rio de Janeiro as of December 1." (2002)

Ah it just seems like three years ago when DAL was giving up on this route, oh that's right it was. I wonder what's changed?

http://news.delta.com/article_display.cfm?article_id=8906

The deep south market is driven by business travel and they don't like it when airlines start and stop service. You know I am right.

It's a tough market to make money in, just look at Varig's financials. If their is one market where their is brand loyality it is the Latin/South American market.

 

[G4G5]

Yea, but today's news is AA cut out 15 flights. Tomorrow, who knows? The pendulum in this industry has no friends.

Read the fine print, most of the flights are Eagle. All destinations are domestic service with multiple frequencies to be reinstate in 30 days.

DFW Chicago O'Hare
Cancellations Trips Remain Cancellations Trips Remain
Atlanta 1 10
Austin 2 15
Denver 1 10
El Paso 1 7
Newark 1 6
Washington Dulles 1 5
Houston Inter. 1 9 1 3
Kansas City 1 11
Chicago O'Hare 1 18
Toronto 1 3 1 5
Minneapolis/St. Paul 1 8
Tulsa 1 3

Your right, cutting back to just 18 daily DFW-Chicago flights or just 15 daily DFW-Austin flights is a true indication the pendulum has started to shift. Let's not even get into haw many domestic DAL routes are going to take a hit while they are in CH 11.

 

[MedFlyer]

Read the fine print, most of the flights are Eagle.

No...they are mainline cuts. If fuel prices remain this high, I expect AA will make more cuts.

As for South America, the only danger I see is that DL is flooding some markets with too much capacity. If this trend continues, DL will simply lose money both domesically and internationally. This trend is already showing up in DL's financials. In the 2nd quarter DL's Latin America operations posted a 0.2% decline in LF and a 3.7% decline in yield....meaning planes were slightly less full and people paid less.....not a good trend. It'll probably get worse when this new batch of routes starts.

The other danger is that as DL shrinks domestically they will lose what little pricing power they have left. DL cuts capacity at RIC while FL adds capacity at RIC. End result: DL's yields fall at RIC. Since most people in RIC aren't headed to Rio De Janeiro or Copenhagen, they're headed to Orlando or Dallas...DL will have to be able to compete domestically. So far, DL doesn't seem to know how.