ClipperDelta

Noticed that the following have been "zeroed out" in reservations systems for next summer. These are seasonal routes which were supposed to come back in June 2012, but I guess with the weak economies on both sides of the Atlantic, and forecast for continued high fuel prices next year, they have been chopped:

JFK-BER
JFK-BUD
JFK-MAN
ATL-PRG
ATL-CPH (JFK-CPH gets upgauged to a 763ER from a 752)
ATL-TLV (already known previously)
ATL-ATH

Don't know if they're done cutting yet, but these were the ones I have noticed so far...

rwoman

I'm surprised about JFK-MAN -- I'd think with the forthcoming Olympics, flights could be very busy...although there have been rumors people are too concerned about the high price of tourism here in the UK.

davetravels

Interesting! My award ticket on the JFK/BER nonstop for mid summer is still intact, but it IS zeroed out!

I guess I should expect, yet another, schedule change this Saturday! Seems like I've had changes about 3 out of the last 4 weeks, including my return from this same trip via AF's CDG/ATL having a major time change. I better start preparing some options to suggest, as I can only imagine what the DeltaMatic auto-booker will stick me on!

Thanx 4 the heads up!

c_d

Cool, they have really f*(§ed up this route. At first, no notice about the suspension with tickets secretly changed and reissued on AF in August this year. Then restart of the route in March, wait May, oh no, wait, June, ahhh, July ... not ...

It all started with a zero'ing out, then with a stealth suspension, then official ... check your ticket frequently in ALL details. What happened to me in Sep. was, that the ticket appeared intact at all times but whenever I clicked on seat selection, I got a turbulence error. Customer support advised me to reload the ticket by reimporting to dl.com (see all my itineraries option under my trips). It then was AF on 057 stock with totally different flights and times after that.

Also be very aware, as you already seem to be, about where DL is rebooking you. I had an unacceptable comment from an otherwise very nice agent regarding an illegal connection caused by DL schedule changes a couple of weeks ago. It did not go as expected for a paid ticket but it did go: "We have many options but let's see which routing/flights a supervisor authorises". As if it is my fault that they cannot handle their schedule and as if I am begging for a free change ...

N830MH

Wow! I didn't hear that. Where did you find out? I wasn't sure why. JFK-BER seat availability is zeros out. This is not good timing at all. Oh well!

tmontemb

It's curious to see ATL-CPH gone. I did that route 3 times on 763 round trip and both ways were full flights every time.

JFK - CPH route was also full but that was expected on the 752. Good to see that at least they're getting the 763.

MSPeconomist

I have heard that for many officials, particular carriers must be used. Also, a lot of the tourists to the Olympics must be on tour packages which probably use charters or consolidator tickets. It is not so clear have many travelers would be left who can pick DL.

Xeno

I don't remember ATL-ATH, at least not a direct flight.

DL2SXM

Surprised at BER

BUD seemed like a solid performer.

PRG/ATH will still have the JFK non-stop and MAN will still go non stop from ATL.

So, it looks llike BUD and BER are the losers in all of this. Of course, you can still access these destinations through CDG/AMS though it would have been nice to get there on a DL 763 lie-flat

rwoman

I'm booked BUD-JFK-BUD in June...itinerary is still not showing the changes/canx - I'm assuming this will show up Saturday? When I go online to book, it only gives me options via AMS...

sxf24

Competition from oneworld carriers looking for market share, rather than profits, has likely killed the feasibility of both destinations.

Medeski

It should show up on Saturday during the normal schedule change sweep but it might take another week depending on how DL processes the changes.

DL2SXM

I didn't realize that unline ST which has two huge European hubs in CDG and AMS, OW only really has British Airways so, market share over profit, makes sense.

DLroads

It is a hub-to-US continental and it took time to build the habit for people to fly through ATL. Now, JFK is a piece of C$#$^, and with all do respect, the 74x are not amazing experience in Y (or even in J, compare to the 777).
some of my fellows have already switched to JFK-EWR-US continental). It is not a good decision in terms of LT business relations model.

ClipperDelta

The thing about BUD is that even as a oneworld hub, AA is not able to keep BUD running year-round now. They started JFK-BUD this year as a year-round service, and had loaded it to run for the winter at 4x weekly. But they are pulling the plug on it starting December and will resume it next April (tentatively). Having DL off the route will help them somewhat, but Eastern Europe in general (aside from Russia) is extremely difficult to make work in this high-fuel environment as there is so little paid premium traffic....

As for Berlin, Air Berlin has really been trashing yields in the market, and given that Berlin is mostly a leisure market from both the US and European end, many pax go for the lowest fares....