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.
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