Delta's Song Nearly Over

Updated from 2:18 p.m. EDT

Delta Air Lines (DALRQ Quote)plans to shut down its low-cost Song airline next May, but said it will blend elements of the carrier into its normal operations.

Song, which operated with only coach seats, was launched in 2003 as a rival to discount upstarts like JetBlue Airways (JBLU Quote). Delta, the nation's No. 3 airline measured by traffic, will repaint Song's 48 narrow-body Boeing 757 jets with Delta colors and add 26 first-class seats to each one.

However, the planes' all-leather seats and seat-back digital television and video -- touches matching JetBlue's service -- will be retained. Although Song will disappear as a separate airline, Delta will continue to use the brand to describe service on long domestic flights. ...