South Africa is still big business for US-based airlines, but the demand varies widely by season. Delta Air Lines wants to adjust its services as a result, assuming the DOT will allow the shift.
The carrier currently holds route authority to serve Johannesburg daily from Atlanta, plus three extra weekly flights to Cape Town, awarded in 2022. That’s not enough capacity to serve the demand to Cape Town in the northern hemisphere winter, however. To address the imbalance Delta is seeking permission to move two of its Johannesburg flights to Cape Town in the winter, leaving it with five weekly flights to each of the two cities.
This is not the first time Delta as sought to shift allocated frequencies to suit shifting demand. It tried with Haneda slots in 2023. It lost on that request (with pressure from other airlines weighing in) and ultimately forfeited the slots. American Airlines was awarded them for JFK service.
In this case Delta will not be giving up the slots should the DOT deny the request:
Should the Department ultimately deny Delta’s request, however unwarranted, Delta will continue offering its current service pattern of daily Atlanta-Johannesburg-Atlanta flights.
Delta could also operate its legacy Johannesburg slots as a triangle route via Cape Town on the way back to Atlanta. It does not appear inclined to do so, however, should the shift be disallowed.
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