Delta to reveal strategy to defeat low-cost rivals = = = = Tuesday January 28, 4:09 PM EST = By Julie MacIntosh NEW YORK, Jan 28 (Reuters) - Delta Air Lines Inc. (DAL) will spell out on= Wednesday the details on its start-up low- fare airline, which it hopes = will steal travelers back from increasingly popular low-cost carriers lik= e Southwest Airlines Inc.(LUV) = The new airline, which Time Magazine reported will be named "Song," will = replace Delta's Express carrier and account in its first year of operatio= n for about one-tenth of Delta's total capacity, as it focuses on the Eas= t Coast. Delta, the No. 3 U.S. air carrier, has refused to comment on the new airl= ine's name. But Delta has said its offshoot will focus this spring on rou= tes between Boston, New York, Fort Lauderdale and Orlando. The major U.S. carriers are all struggling to win customers back from low= er-fare airlines like Southwest, JetBlue Airways Corp.,(JBLU) and, partic= ularly in Delta's southern U.S. markets, AirTran Holdings Inc. (AAI). = All three of those airlines have reported profits recently. But cheap air= fares, heavy costs and the sour economy have wreaked havoc on their far-= bigger competitors, sending their losses into the hundreds of millions of= dollars. Delta reported a $363 million loss for its most recent quarter and said i= t does not expect to return to profitability this year. Delta's announcement last fall it would launch the low-cost unit drew ske= pticism from Wall Street analysts, who said the Atlanta-based carrier was= likely to run into roadblocks with its "airline within an airline" forma= t. Similar endeavors by Delta's rivals have failed miserably. "It's never worked before, but the airlines have to do something drastic = to compete with these point-to-point carriers," said Blaylock & Partners = analyst Raymond Neidl. "They have to try something." DESPERATE MEASURES The new airline, which will have headquarters in Atlanta, will initially = fly Boeing 757s with 199 coach seats between the Northeast and Florida, e= xpanding its reach throughout the year. New York-based JetBlue, which flies along those routes, would be a direct= competitor. But Neidl said JetBlue was probably far from "quaking in its= boots" because its smaller aircraft and cheaper employees should positio= n it as the winner on the cost-structure side. Delta will unveil a simpler fare structure as part of its plan for the ne= w unit. Delta President Fred Reid said in November that uniform, stable t= icket prices were a key aspect of the carrier's makeup. Delta plans to keep costs manageable by mirroring its low- cost rivals' q= uick aircraft turnaround times, having fewer flight attendants and using = its aircraft for more hours each day. But Neidl said Delta's plans to use= workers with more seniority than most employees at other start-ups raise= d concerns about costs. Delta executives said last fall they expected the new carrier to start tu= rning profits in 2004. = =A92003 Reuters Limited. = Roger EWROPS