Delta Air Lines Cites Sick Staff, Air Traffic Control in Summer Schedule Reductions

Delta Air Lines will trim its schedule, beginning over the busy Memorial Day holiday weekend and into August, as it faces numerous operational challenges from air traffic control to sick staff.

The Atlanta-based carrier told employees in a memo on May 25 that it would "thin" schedules over the Memorial Day weekend — the unofficial start of summer in the U.S. — and through June to give staff "more buffer" to deal with operational challenges outside of Delta's control. Reductions would be expanded to roughly 100 daily departures, or less than 2 percent of its full schedule, in the U.S. and near Latin America from July 1