Economic turbulence: Delta scales back Yakima service

YAKIMA -- Citing rising fuel costs and a sagging national economy, Delta Air Lines will be suspending an afternoon flight from Yakima Air Terminal as part of a move to cut costs nationwide, the airline said Wednesday.

The Atlanta-based air carrier will stop operating the afternoon flight and a morning flight out of its hub in Salt Lake City to Yakima beginning May 1.

The suspended flights are part of several cuts the Atlanta air carrier is making in its domestic operations across the country. Delta plans to cut about 10 percent of its flights and ground 30 to 35 of its mainline aircraft and regional jets.

"Domestically, fuel prices -- combined with a weakening domestic economy -- have put significant pressure on the profitability of our U.S. network," according to an employee memo from Delta chief executive officer Richard Anderson and president and chief financial officer Ed Bastian.

To remain competitive, Delta will focus more on international flights, which are more profitable and more efficient to operate. The airline plans to dedicate more than 40 percent of its flight capacity to international flights.

Yakima has not been a stranger to cutbacks in airline service. Delta recently cut the afternoon flight for several weeks during January and February, again citing higher operation costs.

This latest -- more permanent -- cancellation was disappointing to local airport officials, who had spent nearly two years to lure Delta here a year ago. The local business community had raised nearly $500,000 for a prepaid travel bank for airline tickets.

"It's not our fault," said airport manager Buck Taylor. "It's something that's beyond our control. We can't control how they do their business."

Both morning and afternoon flights were showing strong passenger demand. In February, flights on average were 71 percent full, but officials note that many Delta flights as of late were in the 80 percent to 90 percent range.

Delta's decision did not come as a surprise to Mike Boggs. Boggs, the manager of aviation services for Mead & Hunt in Eugene, Ore., served as a consultant for the airport when it worked to bring Delta to Yakima.

With higher fuel prices, airlines need to have nearly full flights just to break even, he said.

And there were several factors working against Yakima.

For the Yakima-Salt Lake City route, Delta was flying the CRJ-200, a 50-seat Canadian jet plane that is less fuel-efficient. Delta didn't have enough flights to spread out the higher fuel costs. And compared to other U.S. destinations, Yakima was farther away -- more than 500 miles from the Salt Lake City, making fuel much more costly.

"If the load factors aren't up there and you hit all those other conditions, then the chances of seeing service reduction" are higher, Boggs said.

Even if a flight is completely full, it may still not be enough to be profitable, said Delta spokesman Anthony Black. "If I raise the ticket (price) to what is sustainable to buy a ticket and the flight is full and I still can't make a profit, what do I do?" he said. "It would be less costly not to operate that flight."

But Yakima airport officials aren't giving up. They are in the process of applying for a grant with the Federal Aviation Administration for $250,000 to provide financial assistance to both Delta and Horizon Air, which operates several flights to Seattle.

Taylor hopes that the financial incentives, along with strong demand for Delta's remaining morning flight, will persuade the airline to restore the afternoon flight.

"We have to show that Yakima is stable," he said. "And it is (stable). The numbers are there. But they have to do what they have to do to make it through this economy."

* Mai Hoang can be reached at 577-7685 or mhoang@yakimaherald.com.