ATLANTA — Delta Air Lines is adjusting the international routes it serves, number of flights it offers and the size of planes it uses for next summer as it seeks to return to profitability.
The world's biggest airline operator released details Tuesday about its international flight schedule for summer 2010. It said new and expanded nonstop routes will be focused on trans-Pacific, trans-Atlantic and Africa flights.
Atlanta-based Delta didn't give capacity guidance for next year, but it did say that many of the international service reductions it announced in June would stand.
Delta reports third-quarter financial results on Thursday.
The airline previously said it would cut international capacity by 15% starting in September. Capacity is measured by available seats times miles flown.
Its acquisition last year of Northwest Airlines gave Delta more capability to shift larger planes onto more profitable routes and use smaller planes on less profitable routes. Delta's joint venture with Air France-KLM also allows it the flexibility to serve its passengers using the foreign carrier's infrastructure.
The international changes announced Tuesday will expand service for customers in 17 cities, Delta said. The airline did not announce any new reductions on top of the ones already disclosed, though it said it would maintain many of those reductions.
Among the changes coming from Delta next summer:
•From Detroit, Delta will introduce new nonstop service to Seoul-Incheon and Hong Kong and expand service between Detroit and Shanghai.
•At Tokyo-Narita, Delta will resume seasonal nonstop service between Tokyo and Salt Lake City, operating five times weekly.
•By June 2010, the Delta-Air France-KLM joint venture will reintroduce seasonal service on more than a dozen trans-Atlantic routes and will launch new nonstop service between New York-JFK and Copenhagen and Stockholm.
•Delta intends to serve as many as 10 African destinations from the United States next summer; including flights to Malabo, Equatorial Guinea; Monrovia, Liberia; Nairobi, Kenya; and Luanda, Angola. All are pending U.S. and foreign government approvals.
