Delta And United Plan Fewer International Flights

By JOSHUA FREED

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Travelers who used to fly in the expensive seats up front are moving toward the back of the plane, if they fly at all, forcing airlines to cut back on overseas flights that used to be their crown jewels.

Delta Air Lines Inc. said on Tuesday it will cut international flying another 10 percent beginning in September. United Airlines is cutting international flying 15 percent in the first quarter alone. Those two airlines are by far the largest U.S. carriers to Asia.

And while airlines can shrink domestic flying by shifting to smaller jets on certain routes, that's harder to do with international flights, where they only have so many planes capable of long-haul trips. So United eliminated its Los Angeles to Hong Kong and Frankfurt flights. Delta's plans to add New York-JFK to Gothenberg, Sweden and a second daily flight from JFK to Tel Aviv in June have been postponed, spokeswoman Betsy Talton said on Tuesday.

Leisure travel has been falling, too, but less than business travel. Airlines have been able to entice vacationers with lower fares, but that hasn't worked on business travelers, said Helane Becker, a transportation analyst with Jesup & Lamont Securities Corp.