Delta Air Lines plans to cut more jobs and pull back further on international flights, saying the worsening global economy has particularly weakened its revenues in international markets.
Delta said in a memo to employees Tuesday that its last round of buyouts, which 2,100 employees signed up for earlier this year, fell short of reaching the cuts needed in certain geographic areas and for certain positions. The buyouts included about 1,500 employees from Northwest and 600 from Delta.
The voluntary reductions met Delta’s overall target, but with the shortfalls in certain areas and additional international flight capacity cuts, “we again must reassess our staffing needs,” the memo from Delta chief executive Richard Anderson and president Ed Bastian said.
The memo did not put a number on the new job-cut goal or specify the areas where they will occur.
“As in the pasts, voluntary programs are always our first consideration to adjust our staffing needs,” the memo said.
Delta said Tuesday it now plans to reduce its international flight capacity by another 10 percent starting in September, focusing on its weak Atlantic and Pacific networks.
The Atlanta-based carrier will cut trans-Atlantic capacity by 11 percent to 13 percent this winter compared with a year earlier and trans-Pacific capacity by 12 percent to 14 percent. It still plans to increase Latin American capacity slightly in the fourth quarter with “targeted growth opportunities.”
The move comes after Delta posted dismal results for international passenger traffic for February. Delta has focused on expanding its international network in recent years, but its international traffic declined 10.1 percent in February as it cut international capacity by just 1.9 percent in the month.
The additional international capacity cut will come on top of the 6 to 8 percent capacity cuts for 2009 that Delta announced last December. At the time, Delta planned to cut international capacity by 3 percent to 5 percent for the year, ending several years of growth since Delta began pursuing an international network strategy in 2005.
