Summary
- Delta Air Lines has reduced summer flights from Detroit to London Heathrow from 12 weekly to daily.
- Meanwhile, Salt Lake City falls from daily to five weekly.
- It is unclear what exactly will happen with its freed-up daily slot pair.
Delta is one of six operators with non-stop flights between the US and London Heathrow. While its network to the UK's busiest airport still comprises eight routes this summer, the carrier's latest schedule upload to Cirium indicates that Detroit and Salt Lake City will be served less frequently.
While it is unclear what will happen to the slots, the changes follow the previously discussed increases by equity and SkyTeam partner Virgin Atlantic: New York JFK rises to seven daily and Boston to double daily. It is theoretically possible that Delta plans to add another Heathrow or to grow frequencies in existing markets.
Detroit falls to daily
While Delta had planned to serve Heathrow from Detroit 12 times weekly, it will now only be daily, a drop of 42%. This takes effect at the end of March when northern airlines switch to summer schedules. Cirium indicates that it was served 12 weekly in summer 2023 and double daily in 2019; it is quite a reduction.
The 3,766-mile (6,061 km) route is scheduled as follows, with all times local. The aircraft remains the same: the 223-seat Airbus A330-200. These have 34 Delta One suites, 21 seats in Premium Select, 24 in Comfort+, and just 144 in Main Cabin.
- Detroit to Heathrow: DL16, 18:45-07:15+1 (7h 30m)
- Heathrow to Detroit: DL17, 12:10-15:45 (8h 35m)
84% seat load factor
According to the US Department of Transportation T-100 data, Delta carried 57,603 roundtrip passengers on this route in the all-important Q3 2023 (July to September).
With 68,458 seats for sale, it achieved a seat load factor of 84.1%. It was its second-lowest SLF from Detroit to Europe, behind only Munich (78.9%). It was also below Delta's average of all US-Europe routes in Q3 (89.1%).
Analyzed: Delta Air Lines’ Top 10 Airports In Early 2024
The airline is the largest carrier at seven of its top 10 airports.It filled 626 out of the 744 available seats on a typical day. Booking data for these three summer months suggest that, on average, about 372 passengers connected over Detroit having started or ended their journey at Heathrow. St Louis was the largest origin and destination.
Salt Lake City reduces to five weekly
Delta's second-longest UK route is the 4,866-mile (7,831km) link from Salt Lake City to Heathrow. It commenced in April 2016, when it was served year-round: daily in the summer and four weekly in the winter.
It soon became summer-seasonal, ending in October 2017 before operating between April and October 2018. It returned in April 2019 and, sure enough, returned to being year-round, operating through the winter until the pandemic stopped it. It was back in May 2022 and was, again, year-round. T-100 information shows it had just a 74.1% SLF in Q3 2023.
While there was a daily flight last summer with the 281-seat A330neo, it will now be five weekly – its lowest summer frequency – with the A330-200. Not only will it have fewer flights (-29%), but this – and lower-gauge equipment – means far fewer seats for sale (-43%).
The schedule in May is as follows, with all times local. Aircraft are swapped at Heathrow:
- Salt Lake City to Heathrow: DL50, 17:10-10:00+1 (9h 50m)
- Heathrow to Salt Lake City: DL51, 10:55-14:30/11:00-14:35 (10h 35m)
What do you make of it all? Let us know in the comments section.