Delta Chops Cincinnati Fares

One month after Delta Air Lines' February announcement that it was restructuring fares at Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport, FareCompare data pulled for BTN shows Delta is making good on fare reductions in a market that government data show for years had posted some of the highest fares in the country.

The data, based on a sampling of 253 Cincinnati origin fares ranging from walk-ups to 14-day advance purchases, show the average fare is 31 percent lower than one year ago, despite a handful of increases. More than half of those fares are more than 35 percent lower than a year ago.

In announcing the new fare structure in February, Delta executive vice president of network planning and revenue management Glen Hauenstein said the carrier aimed to steer local passengers to its Cincinnati hub "rather than wasting time and money driving to neighboring airports."

For years, Delta's Cincinnati hub had been among the most expensive domestic airports for travelers to depart, driving customers toward lower fares at alternative airports in the region. Last month, the carrier claimed the move would reduce one-way advance purchase fares by up to 60 percent, compared with January fares.

Such airports as Dayton International, 78 miles away, Louisville International, 102 miles away and Indianapolis International, 120 miles away, became the beneficiaries of passengers seeking refuge from the high Cincinnati airfares.

For the first three quarters of 2008, Cincinnati fares ranked the highest of the top 100 domestic airports, according to the quarterly airfare index compiled by the U.S. Department of Transportation's Bureau of Transportation Statistics. Fourth-quarter data have yet to be released.

According to FareCompare, the reductions registered across Cincinnati's domestic network, hitting markets large and small.

Delta characterized the Cincinnati fare revisions not as a sale, but as a new pricing structure that applies to both leisure and business travel. "In addition to reductions on the lowest available fares, customers also will see reductions on other advance purchase and walk-up fares," Delta said in a statement in February.

According to FareCompare, those assertions are largely true, with some walk-up fares, such as a roundtrip to Chicago, priced more than 70 percent lower than a year ago.