Delta to Consolidate Regional Airlines

Delta Air Lines has announced plans to consolidate some of the functions of the regional airlines it owns.

Comair, Mesaba, and Compass Airlines will have their customer service and ramp workers merged into one company called Regional Handling Services(RHS). The other parts of the airlines will continue to operate independently, but this may be the precursor to additional consolidation, ironic considering Northwest only recently started Compass. In addition to their subsidiaries, Delta has contracts with six carriers that provide domestic service as Delta Connection. Delta estimates no frontline employee reductions as a result of this, as there is minimum overlap between the three.

In order to live up to Northwest’s obligations, the Delta Connection headquarters is being moved to Minnesota, as Northwest had commitments the. Delta must keep 10,000 jobs, including a flight simulator operation and two call centers, in Minnesota. Compass will also have its headquarters in Minnesota, as well as the RHS unit itself.

As the B.net points out, they should be able to get some managerial efficiency improvements, as well as more consistency to the passengers. Regional carriers, especially Comair, have horrible performance records that Delta Air Lines needs to invest money in fixing.