Here is Fred Buttrell's memo to CMR employees regarding the CVG cuts.
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Today, Delta announced it is right-sizing the Cincinnati hub as part of its ongoing transformation plan to return the company to long-term viability. As Delta has done previously with its other hubs, it is now making changes for the December schedule to better match service to local passenger demand and more evenly balance the amount of local and connecting traffic in Cincinnati.
The changes will eliminate the incremental, off-peak flying done early in the morning, late in the evening and short out-and-back trips between bigger banks. That incremental flying improves aircraft utilization but does not generate revenues sufficient to support those operations, especially given current fuel prices.
Specifically, the changes announced today involve:
Re-sizing CVG to align with local customer demand, resulting in a 26 percent capacity reduction. The new schedule, which goes into effect December 1, calls for 34 fewer mainline departures per day, and 123 fewer DCI departures (including 87 flights flown by Comair);
Reducing reliance on connecting traffic and boosting the mix of local traffic on every flight from 36 percent to nearly 50 percent; and
Developing a new CVG schedule that shortens the operational day, consolidates demand to fewer frequencies but keeps flight options in customers' preferred travel times.
Across the Comair network, total departures will be reduced by more than 14% and 5,000 block hours, without reduction of aircraft. As a result, our initial estimates indicate up to 350 Comair people could be impacted, primarily in Flight Operations, Inflight and some Customer Services Field locations and operational support areas.
These decisions are never easy. As the schedule is finalized over the next few weeks, we will make every effort to minimize the employee impact through a number of measures, including attrition, relocation and leaves of absence. For those affected, we will have more details on employee options in the coming weeks. We will also immediately implement a hiring freeze in certain operational areas as we evaluate our current staffing levels.
We've come a long way since the beginning of the year. Since January, we have signed Letters of Agreement with ALPA and the IBT, signed a new contract with the IAM, dramatically improved our Department of Transportation rankings for on-time and customer complaints, improved the service and appearance of our aircraft and opened new crew and maintenance bases.
While it's always regrettable when changes impact our company and our people, these are difficult and necessary. Keep in mind:
CVG remains Delta's second largest hub, Comair remains the largest carrier in terms of flights in CVG and a valuable part of the Delta network;
We maintain our large presence in the critically important focus cities of Boston, Washington, D.C. and New York's JFK and LGA, and provide most of the service options to the regional markets in the northern states;
Comair people continue to handle aircraft in field stations with DCI and mainline activity, including cities where there are no Comair flights.
Going forward, we must continue to stay focused on operational integrity, customer service excellence and a winning growth strategy. To survive, we must also become one of the low-cost providers of Delta Connection flying. Doing that will give us the opportunity to secure a winning growth strategy while helping Delta our partner and parent company at the same time.
The leadership team and I are committed to keeping an open and honest dialogue with you as we work through the challenges before us. I encourage you to stay engaged by reading company communications and asking questions of your leadership team at every opportunity. You can find additional information about today's announcement in the attached Delta press release and Comair-specific Q&As. Additional information is also posted on EPIC and will be available in an updated President's Message later today.
I look forward to seeing you in the operation, and as always, thank you for your continued efforts to help us fly, serve and win.
=============================================
Today, Delta announced it is right-sizing the Cincinnati hub as part of its ongoing transformation plan to return the company to long-term viability. As Delta has done previously with its other hubs, it is now making changes for the December schedule to better match service to local passenger demand and more evenly balance the amount of local and connecting traffic in Cincinnati.
The changes will eliminate the incremental, off-peak flying done early in the morning, late in the evening and short out-and-back trips between bigger banks. That incremental flying improves aircraft utilization but does not generate revenues sufficient to support those operations, especially given current fuel prices.
Specifically, the changes announced today involve:
Re-sizing CVG to align with local customer demand, resulting in a 26 percent capacity reduction. The new schedule, which goes into effect December 1, calls for 34 fewer mainline departures per day, and 123 fewer DCI departures (including 87 flights flown by Comair);
Reducing reliance on connecting traffic and boosting the mix of local traffic on every flight from 36 percent to nearly 50 percent; and
Developing a new CVG schedule that shortens the operational day, consolidates demand to fewer frequencies but keeps flight options in customers' preferred travel times.
Across the Comair network, total departures will be reduced by more than 14% and 5,000 block hours, without reduction of aircraft. As a result, our initial estimates indicate up to 350 Comair people could be impacted, primarily in Flight Operations, Inflight and some Customer Services Field locations and operational support areas.
These decisions are never easy. As the schedule is finalized over the next few weeks, we will make every effort to minimize the employee impact through a number of measures, including attrition, relocation and leaves of absence. For those affected, we will have more details on employee options in the coming weeks. We will also immediately implement a hiring freeze in certain operational areas as we evaluate our current staffing levels.
We've come a long way since the beginning of the year. Since January, we have signed Letters of Agreement with ALPA and the IBT, signed a new contract with the IAM, dramatically improved our Department of Transportation rankings for on-time and customer complaints, improved the service and appearance of our aircraft and opened new crew and maintenance bases.
While it's always regrettable when changes impact our company and our people, these are difficult and necessary. Keep in mind:
CVG remains Delta's second largest hub, Comair remains the largest carrier in terms of flights in CVG and a valuable part of the Delta network;
We maintain our large presence in the critically important focus cities of Boston, Washington, D.C. and New York's JFK and LGA, and provide most of the service options to the regional markets in the northern states;
Comair people continue to handle aircraft in field stations with DCI and mainline activity, including cities where there are no Comair flights.
Going forward, we must continue to stay focused on operational integrity, customer service excellence and a winning growth strategy. To survive, we must also become one of the low-cost providers of Delta Connection flying. Doing that will give us the opportunity to secure a winning growth strategy while helping Delta our partner and parent company at the same time.
The leadership team and I are committed to keeping an open and honest dialogue with you as we work through the challenges before us. I encourage you to stay engaged by reading company communications and asking questions of your leadership team at every opportunity. You can find additional information about today's announcement in the attached Delta press release and Comair-specific Q&As. Additional information is also posted on EPIC and will be available in an updated President's Message later today.
I look forward to seeing you in the operation, and as always, thank you for your continued efforts to help us fly, serve and win.