After May 1, students flying out of Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky Airport (CVG) may see changes in flight schedules and ticket prices, as Delta Airlines will close all of its gates in Concourse A of the airport.
In a March 16 memo, Delta said it would be reducing its service at the airport and would "consolidate all flight operations to a single concourse, moving all Delta and Delta Connection flights to Concourse B."
This came as bad news to airport and Delta employees working in Concourse A of Terminal 3. Currently, Delta occupies both the A and B Concourses of Terminal 3.
In a press release Feb. 22, John Mok, chief executive officer of CVG, said if the concourse is left empty and existing jobs are not transferred from Concourse A to B, "up to 120 concessionaire employees will be impacted."
However, jobs will not only be affected within the concourse itself. Delta also announced once all operations were consolidated into Concourse B, Delta's ground operations staff would take over operations.
Delta uses a subsidiary, Regional Elite Airline Services, to operate ground services, such as ticket counters and gate and ramp duties at Concourse A.
In their memo to Cincinnati-based employees, Gil West, senior vice president of airport customer service for Delta, said Delta "can no longer support two separate work groups performing the same function," and that the 840 Regional Elite Airline Services employees would be laid off. West said that all the changes are being made to "return the CVG hub to profitability."
In response to Delta's announcement of layoffs of Regional Elite Airline Services employees, Mok said "the announcement released today is very disheartening to the Airport and the Tri-State community."
However, West assured passengers the consolidations would not result in fewer flights, stating "this announcement does not change our previously announced plans to operate between 160 and 170 flights each day from Cincinnati this summer, including reinstated service to a number of cities."
Barb Schempf, manager of government affairs and public relations for the Kenton County Airport Board at CVG, said the airport's concern is that it is under capacity for the Cincinnati area.
"Looking at the community, we feel we don't have enough capacity to meet demands," Schempf said. "We are aggressively pursuing what other options are available to increase service at the airport."
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Schempf said passengers at CVG "should still expect the high level of service they've been receiving."
According to Schempf, airfares at CVG had the largest decrease in airfare at any U.S. airport, which was more than 39 percent, and passengers should continue to see low fares at the airport after the schedule changes.
Schempf said the airport "will be working with Delta to look at what opportunities are available for that concourse moving forward."
Many Miami University students fly out of the Cincinnati airport when going home on break or going on vacations. Junior Larpamon Chatphaisal often flies with Delta Airlines out of Cincinnati and said he is typically happy with the service.
"I've flown out of Cincinnati five times and I've never had a delay," Chatphaisal said. "I would pick Delta over United or another airline."
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