Delta Air Lines to suspend Salt Lake City-Tokyo direct flights between October 1, 2009, and May 14, 2010

Delta Air Lines is suspending its non-stop, 5-days-a-week flights between Salt Lake City, Utah, the United States, and Tokyo in Japan from October 1, 2009, owing to a decline in the demand for travel due to the A/H1N1 virus pandemic (swine flu.) The Salt Lake City-Tokyo service will resume on May 14, 2010, according to Delta Air Lines, based in Atlanta, Georgia, the United States. However, the number of services will be reduced to four flights a week beginning May 14, 2010.

Passengers holding tickets for the non-stop flights between October 1, 2009, and May 14, 2010, will be put on flights that connect through San Francisco, Los Angeles, Seattle, or Portland, Oregon.

The Salt Lake City-Tokyo service will resume with 4 flights a week in the summer of 2010 since “the primary season for US travel is from Easter to Labor Day,” Delta Air Lines said in a statement.

Media reports said that Delta Air Lines may restore its 5th flight between Salt Lake City and Tokyo provided the fears about the H1N1 flu retreats and more Japanese resume travelling.

Delta Air Lines, the biggest airline company in the world, had started the direct service between Salt Lake City International Airport and Narita International Airport in Tokyo on June 3, 2009 – operating every day except Tuesdays and Saturdays. The flight time is 11 hours.

Richard Anderson, CEO of Delta Air Lines, explained in the statement that the airline’s revenues have been dropping “by billions of dollars” on account of the fall in demand for air travel.

In July 2009, Delta Air Lines had reported a loss of as much as $257 million for the second quarter.

It may be recalled that Delta Air Lines had earlier announced plans to reduce international capacity by 15% beginning September 2009. The cut in the frequency of the Salt Lake City-Tokyo service to 4 days a week from May 14, 2010, is a part of this plan.

According to a recent regulatory filing, Delta Air Lines – including its subsidiaries Northwest Airlines, Mesaba, Compass, and Comair – had 82,968 full-time employees as of June 30, 2009.