ESCANABA - The Delta County Airport will see some changes in Delta Airlines flights this fall, following an announcement by the airline that it will adjust services in 24 small cities.
According to Delta County Airport Manager Connie Ness, who spoke with Delta Airlines officials Friday, Delta wants to eliminate its Saab-340 services, which the airport currently uses on two of its three flights - one to Detroit and the other to Minneapolis.
"Their (Delta Airlines') plan is to eliminate the flight to Minneapolis," said Ness. She said in absence of eliminating their Saab-340 service, the airport will replace the current Saab-340 flight to Detroit with a jet flight, while one additional jet flight to Detroit will be added to the schedule. None of these flights would be tagged with Iron Mountain's Ford Airport.
Ness said this should work well since flights to Detroit from Delta County are the airport's busiest.
Each jet carries 50 passengers, which is more than the 34 passengers the current Saab-340s hold.
She also said those who have flights scheduled to Minneapolis in the near future need not worry, since the flight change is not to take effect until October.
Most of the affected flights in these 24 cities are due to the phasing out of the 34-seat Saab turboprops, which Delta hopes to entirely phase out by the end of the year.
Higher fuel prices have affected the profitability of operating small planes since the cost for fuel is divided among small numbers of passengers.
For additional information on the change, contact the Delta County Airport at (906) 786-4902.