Delta Cuts Cincinnati Service

Scioto County residents will have fewer travel options this summer as Delta continues to drawdown its Cincinnati hub. Effective May 1st, Delta Air Lines will consolidate its Cincinnati operations by moving all flights to concourse B.

Delta's presence in Cincinnati has continued to shrink since its merger with Northwest Airlines. Currently, Delta and its regional subsidiaries operate just over 160 daily flights out of Cincinnati. As recently as 2005, Cincinnati was Delta's second biggest hub, with over 600 daily departures. Until 2008, Delta operated flights out of concourses A, B, and C.

Despite the cuts, Delta continues to operate a single daily service to Paris--the region's only non-stop intercontinental flight. However, one must question the long-term sustainability of this flight, especially with diminished connection opportunities caused by Delta service reductions.

It will be interesting to see how Delta's shrinking presence will affect service at Cincinnati International. Perhaps a low-fare carrier such as Southwest or JetBlue will fill the void? For the time being, however, this drawdown will certainly cause more Scioto County residents to consider Columbus International when making travel plans.

Conflict of Interest?

Saez vs. City of Portsmouth, Jane Murray

Murray et al, vs. City of Portsmouth

As many are well aware, Mayor Jane Murray is currently named as a plaintiff in a lawsuit against the City of Portsmouth. This case (Jane Murray, et al vs. City of Portsmouth) was filed in August of 2008. Much has already been said about the ethically questionable nature of this action--the Mayor suing the city she administers--so I will not dwell on that further. However, the lawsuit filed by former Community Development Director Daniel Saez against Murray and the City (Daniel Saez vs. City of Portsmouth, et al) adds an interesting new twist to this dilemma.

In Murray, et al vs. City of Portsmouth, the City of Portsmouth is defended by attorney Lawrence Barbiere of Mason, Ohio. Incidentally, Murray's attorney of record in Saez vs. City of Portsmouth, et al is the same Lawrence Barbiere.

Since I am not a member of the bar, I shall refrain from drawing further conclusions about the ethics of these circumstances. However, it certainly does seem strange--Barbiere representing Murray in one case and opposing her in another?