Delta Air Lines has directed regional subsidiary Comair to shed more than half of its Bombardier CRJs over the next two years, according to a September 1 memo to employees from Comair president John Bendoraitis. The Cincinnati-based regional airline plans to cut 49 fifty-seat CRJs from next year through 2012, leaving it with 16 fifty-seat CRJ200s, 15 seventy-seat CRJ700s and 13 seventy-six-seat CRJ900s.
Delta began searching for a buyer for Comair not long after the major airline sold Atlanta-based Atlantic Southeast Airlines to SkyWest in 2005. But while Delta more recently succeeded in selling former Northwest Airlink subsidiaries Mesaba and Compass Airlines after its merger with Northwest, Comair would remain the Cincinnati-based airline’s last wholly owned regional subsidiary, largely due to its cost structure.
“To secure our future, we need to operate as a standalone entity,” said Bendoraitis. “We must be able to earn a profit while reducing our operating costs to what the market is willing to pay for our services.”
