Delta Air Lines (DL, Atlanta Hartsfield Jackson) has announced in a letter to its staff that it will not renew regional contracts with GoJet Airlines (G7, St. Louis Lambert International) and Compass Airlines (United States of America) (Minneapolis St. Paul International) as it strives to simplify its operational complexity.
Following the adjustment, Delta Connection services will be operated by Endeavor Air (9E, Minneapolis St. Paul International), SkyWest Airlines (OO, St. George Municipal), and Republic Airways (YX, Indianapolis International). Delta said it did not foresee any changes to its network as a result of the simplification of its regional contracts.
"This strategic move to reduce the number of carriers allows Delta to simplify the Delta Connection network, reducing geographical overlap between the carriers. As a result of the transition, the three remaining carriers - Endeavor Air, Delta's wholly-owned subsidiary, along with SkyWest Airlines and Republic Airways - will focus on specific regions of the the US. This will help minimize the number of Delta Connection carriers serving each Delta hub and allow for more efficient allocation of each carriers' resources," the carrier said.
GoJet Airlines and Compass Airlines are owned by Trans States Airlines (St. Louis Lambert International). The former carrier operates twenty-one CRJ700s and seven CRJ900s under the Delta Connection brand, while the latter operates thirty-six E175s for Delta, the ch-aviation fleets module shows. GoJet Airlines also operates twenty-five CRJ700s for United Airlines. Compass Airlines flies twenty E175s for American Airlines.
Delta said it will work "over the next eleven months" to reallocate all CRJ700s and E175s currently operated by GoJet Airlines and Compass Airlines.
"Seven remaining GoJet CRJ900 aircraft are under contract through 2022, and Delta is working with GoJet to evaluate the possibility of an early removal," the airline said.
Endeavor Air announced via its corporate blog that it will take over thirteen of these CRJ700s. The carrier also said it will add twenty CRJ900s. With 109 units of the type already in its fleet, Endeavor Air is the world's largest operator of the CRJ900. All thirty-three additional CRJs will enter service with the carrier by June 2020.
The regional carrier also said it will add Raleigh/Durham as its eleventh maintenance base.
SkyWest said in a press release that it will operate six used E175s on behalf of Delta Air Lines, taking over units from Compass Airlines. The carrier will also add more E110s instead of previously announced CRJ900s.
"SkyWest has also agreed to purchase and operate seven new E175 aircraft for Delta instead of SkyWest operating seven new CRJ900 aircraft that were to be financed by Delta and scheduled for delivery in 2020. The seven E175 aircraft have delivery dates scheduled from late 2019 to mid-2020," the airline said.
At the same time, SkyWest cancelled its previously announced order for three new E175 aircraft scheduled for service with Alaska Airlines (AS, Seattle Tacoma International) in 2021.
