FLINT TWP, MI – Delta Airlines has eliminated its Flint-to-Detroit
route departing from Bishop International Airport effective Jan. 14, Bishop
Spokesperson Pat Corfman said.

“It just makes more financial sense,” she said. “That
leg between Flint and Detroit has always been unprofitable.”

The airport stopped selling tickets for the 47-minute, 56-mile
flight from Flint to Detroit on Delta Airlines Nov. 9.

“It’s been our longest-running, most consistent flight out
of Flint,” she said, adding that the flight ran three times per day.

The elimination means more seating on flights leaving from
Flint to Atlanta and to Minneapolis. Starting March 2014, the airport
anticipates 21 flights to leave weekly from Flint to Atlanta, boasting 946 more
seats per week — a 46 percent increase from 2013. Seats for flights to Minneapolis will increase nearly 54
percent, from 650 seats available weekly in 2013 to 1,000 for 2014, Corfman said.

Factoring in the elimination of Delta’s Flint-to-Detroit route, the airline is
offering an additional 10 percent in seating for flights out of Flint to
Atlanta and Minneapolis, she said.

“It’s actually a gain as far as seat availability,” Corfman
said. “We feel fantastic that Delta has continued to support us and continued
their commitment to our community. Overall, we’re pleased and relieved.”

For the month of August 2013, a total of 3,532 passengers left
from Flint en route to Detroit. During that same time, passengers going from Flint to
Atlanta totaled 8,540.

Delta’s 50-seat, Canadair Regional Jet will continue to take
passengers from Flint to Detroit until Jan. 14. The same plane is used to
carry passengers to Minneapolis. Delta uses its 149-seat, MD88 plane for
flights leaving from Flint to Atlanta.

Delta was Bishop’s top airline in 2012, accounting for about
44 percent of all departing passengers from Flint.