Delta retreats on the Transatlantic

On my flight from Europe to the USA – I noticed that Delta has announced “seasonal suspensions” of service. These include the following routes

JFK – TXL (note the new competition from Air Berlin and increased competition from UA/CO
JFK-CPH (A revitalized SAS combined with new competition from UA/CO)
JFK-ARN (A revitalized SAS combined with new competition from UA/CO)
ATL-MOW Not sure why this one
PHL-CDG Nor this

As some analysts have speculated the JV model has its flaws. With high fuel costs eating into Delta’s aging fleet of 767s the airline and its transatlantic JV Partner – AF/KL – are beginning to take a long hard look at the inefficiencies of some of these flights. At a time when the mainland European carriers and United have nice new shiny planes – Delta, American and British Airways have older and less fuel efficient aircraft.

It will be hard to untie this conundrum

Cheers