DL cuts Caracas to 1X weekly

[WorldTraveler]

following AA's decision to cut its CCS capacity as well as that of several int'l carriers, DL will now operated to CCS only 1X/week.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-07-07/delta-joins-american-in-cutting-flights-to-venezuela.html?cmpid=yhoo

"The change will further isolate Venezuela, where at least a dozen carriers have cut capacity, sales or service in protest over strict currency controls that prevent them from repatriating earnings from tickets sold there without government authorization. "

 

[700UW]

Oh so it was a bad idea when AA did it, but now since Uber Delta is doing cutting service its a good idea?

 

[WorldTraveler]

Oh so it was a bad idea when AA did it, but now since Uber Delta is doing cutting service its a good idea?

 I never said it was bad that AA did it, just that it could change the competitive balance if other carriers did not and AA wanted back in later.

It remains to be seen what UA will do but if Venezuela is cut off from the world, then Venezuela might decide it might be necessary to let the int'l market work or watch the country be isolated from the world.

in terms of percent of capacity that was cut, DL's cuts are in line with what AA did.

whether 1X/week is enough to attract passengers remains to be seen... it will clearly have to be a turnaround.

 

[eolesen]

I suspect UA's changes will be few. They still have the oil related business goes between IAH and CCS, while AA has some of that plus the commerce and banking traffic to MIA.

Either way, they're on their way to mirroring North Korea.

 

[Kev3188]

 

whether 1X/week is enough to attract passengers remains to be seen... it will clearly have to be a turnaround.

It's going to be a RON.

ATL-CCS on Sat.

CCS-ATL on Sun.

 

[700UW]

How can that be Kevin?
 
UBER DL WT is never wrong, lol.

 

[robbedagain]

Kev   itll be a turn...  it flies in sat nite  sit for a few hrs  then goes back out sun  so that must be WT version of a turn around

 

[700UW]

Has to sit for more than a few hours due to crew rest.
 
The same crew takes it out I believe, is that correct Kevin?

 

[WorldTraveler]

It's going to be a RON.

ATL-CCS on Sat.

CCS-ATL on Sun.

thank you, Kev.

It obviously must have about 10 hours or more on the ground to meet crew rest requirements.

indeed it has 12 hours on the ground which also says the issue is one of getting money out of Venezuela and not that DL believes the security situation has deteriorated too badly.

http://airlineroute.net/2014/07/08/dl-atlccs-aug14/

 

[robbedagain]

what aircraft type are they using?

 

[Kev3188]

737's...

 

[eolesen]

I guess the expenses related to the aircraft cleaners, layover hotel and crew transportation is one way to burn up the currency you can't repatriate...

When AA cut their schedule back, they made a decision to not leave crew or aircraft on the ground for no more than two hours.

 

[WorldTraveler]

the schedule actually appears to be fairly similar to what DL offers today...

it is because of what AA did that I thought DL would do the same.

again, DL doesn't apparently see the problem as one of security but rather economics.

and if DL really didn't believe it was safe to be there overnight, I doubt if they would fly there at all.

 

[eolesen]

Yeah, well, DL doesn't have a flight attendant union to answer to, and pilots never admit there's danger until they say "oh, shi+.".

IIRC, wasn't DL last airline to announce a contingency plan for employee evacuations during Fukushima?...

 

[WorldTraveler]

perhaps you can tell us what danger there has been to foreign interests in Venezuela.

and if it is hostile, why is AA risking ANYTHING to continue to serve the country?

APA and APFA don't have the backbone to say "we aren't going there - layover or not?"


give it a rest...