Delta’s commitment to driving better performance is showing progress the first half of June following actions to improve our operation for customers. For June weekends month-to-date, Delta’s network system weekend cancellations are down 35% from May.1 Our domestic mainline on-time arrival rate remains in first place among our competitors2 for the fifth consecutive month through June 15.3
Travel demand has been on the rise, driven by people eager to reconnect with the world around them. Rebuilding Delta’s operation to serve the increasing number of customers who want to fly with us has been an enormous feat – and not without challenges.
«This phase of our recovery has been the most difficult. We’ve never had to bring the airline back at this speed before,» said E.V.P. and Chief of Operations John Laughter. «Through this challenge, we continue to make decisions that allow us to run a good, safe operation while restoring our network, and to take care of our people and customers.»
Weekends impacted by irregular operations were a key driver of cancellations in May. In recent months, we’ve made several adjustments to minimize disruptions and bounce back faster when challenges occur. These latest adjustments build on other actions Delta has taken recently, including:
We’re working to strategically schedule our crews and people in a way that enables us to absorb and adjust when factors like summer thunderstorms disrupt the operation.
We’re starting the boarding process earlier. This, combined with the empowerment of our people to «leave when ready,» is driving up the share of flights departing five minutes early to get our planes and customers on their way.4
We’re continuing to engage with the FAA on improving processes for air traffic management.
We’re adding several hundred new pilots and flight attendants to the operation monthly as we hire and train to support our growth.
On May 26, we announced that we’d be strategically decreasing our flight schedule this summer. This is meant to build additional resilience in our system and improve operational reliability for our customers and employees; we’ll continue proactively adjusting select flights in the coming weeks.
Delta teams strive to notify customers of itinerary changes as far in advance as possible. If a schedule change or delay impacts an upcoming flight, we’ll send updates directly to a mobile device or by email if contact information is included during booking or added later via My Trips online.
We also issue waivers in the event of inclement weather, offering customers whose travel includes affected cities the option to consider moving their travel to before or after the weather event, which can also help avoid unnecessary waiting at airports.
If upcoming bookings for later this summer happen to change, our teams will provide customers with the next-best itinerary that gets them where they need to go with the shortest delay possible.
1. Based on internal data for Delta network systemwide flights scheduled for the first three weekends in May 2022 compared to the first two weekends in June 2022. Weekend is defined as Friday-Sunday; holiday weekends such as Memorial Day are excluded.
2. Based on DOT data for Delta mainline domestic flights through March 2022 and based on Preliminary FlightStats from April 2022 through June 15, 2022, compared to Major U.S. carriers. Major U.S. carriers include Delta, American, United, Southwest, JetBlue, and Alaska.
3. Date range is February 1, 2022, through June 15, 2022.
4. Based on internal data through June 14, 2022.
