Carrier is overhauling its regioonal partnerships

Delta Air Lines said last week it has “mutually agreed” with ExpressJet to terminate the latter’s Delta Connection contract effective September 1 – the latest step in Delta’s ongoing reshuffling of its regional feeder agreements. ExpressJet flies 23 Embraer regional jets under the Delta Connection banner, mostly out of Los Angeles and Salt Lake City. Delta said it will reassign some of those operations, including all current ExpressJet services at Salt Lake City, to another regional partner. ExpressJet CEO Jim Ream said his carrier has been losing money on the Delta operations.

Last month, Delta told regional Delta Connection partner Pinnacle Airlines, based in Memphis, that it intends to terminate the 10-year capacity purchase deal the two had signed in 2007, effective July 31. Delta said Pinnacle failed to meet on-time performance requirements set down in the contract, which provided for Pinnacle to fly up to 16 regional jets for Delta. Pinnacle also operates as a Northwest Airlink carrier for Delta’s intended merger partner. Several weeks ago,a federal judge in Atlanta granted Mesa Air Group’s request for a preliminary injunction blocking Delta’s plan to end its Delta Connection partner contract with Mesa subsidiary Freedom Airlines, which operates 34 50-seat jets and seven 76-seat jets under the Delta Connection banner. Delta told Mesa that it was terminating its contract with Freedom because the regional airline failed to maintain a specified completion rate during several recent months. Mesa said if Freedom Airlines loses its Delta Connection contract, Mesa might have to file for Chapter 11 reorganization.