Delta Air Lines cutting nonstop flights to Washington

CINCINNATI - Delta Air Lines Inc. is trimming service again at Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport, dropping two nonstop flights a day to Washington’s Dulles airport.

“I don’t think anyone’s happy with the lack of service that we have,” said Vicky Mary,  president of Victoria Travel in Hyde Park. “But this is the new economy.”

Delta said the flights were canceled due to a lack of demand.

Elimination of Delta’s Dulles flights was first reported in December by AirlineRoute.net , an air-service tracking site produced by London-based UBM Aviation.

Mary said Cincinnati travelers should still find plenty of options for nonstop flights to Reagan National Airport in Washington. Dulles is known for its United Airlines connections to Europe, which may be one reason Delta pulled its flights, Mary said.

US Air this week added a fourth daily flight to Reagan National Airport in Washington, said Bobby Spann, director of air service development for CVG Airport in Hebron, Ky. Delta still serves the Washington market through Reagan National, the preferred airport for most local travelers. And United still offers two daily flights to Dulles.

“On peak days we have eight flights,” Spann said.

Mary said she was also notified Tuesday of the change in Delta’s flight schedule to San Francisco. She said the Atlanta-based airline is continuing a 9:30 a.m. flight to San Francisco International Airport, but the 4 p.m. daily flight is not on the schedule through September. A Delta spokesman also confirmed the San Francisco flight reduction, but Spann said there have been no changes in Delta's number of flights since last June. That's when flight service declined from 11 nonstop flights a week to six.