Delta To Add Transcon Song Service

Delta Air Lines this year will launch 15 daily nonstop flights between New York JFK and three West Coast business markets as part of a significant expansion announced today for its low-fare operation Song. The new services are the latest developments in the ever-changing competitive balance of transcontinental markets.

Specifically, Delta's Song by June 18 will operate seven daily roundtrip flights between JFK and Los Angeles International Airport. By early September, it will offer five daily roundtrips to San Francisco International Airport and three to Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. In all, Song's JFK services would double as it grows its fleet by 12 Boeing 757 aircraft. By Sept. 2, Song would field 48 planes and operate 176 daily flights.

Delta CEO Gerald Grinstein said Song has developed into "a highly-efficient competitor and a successful test bed for new and innovative ideas."

Song's expansion positions Delta to expand its clash against JetBlue Airways from the East Coast battleground to coast-to-coast competition. JetBlue's newest transcon growth is slated to begin May 3 and would include additional nonstop frequencies from JFK to Long Beach and Ontario in the Los Angeles basin, San Jose and Oakland in the Bay Area and San Diego. It also will add transcontinental frequencies from both Boston Logan and Washington Dulles.

Meanwhile, other competitors are exiting transcon markets to focus resources elsewhere. Both American Airlines and America West Airlines have decided to eliminate certain underperforming citypairs.