Delta flights from Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport will go from 254 daily to 21 under a sweeping restructuring plan announced this morning.=20 "A commanding market presence is critical, and we didn't have it in Dallas," said Delta Air Lines Inc. chief executive Gerald Grinstein in a release.=20 Delta plans to remake 51 percent of its network, shifting flights from D/FW to boost service from its larger hubs in Atlanta, Cincinnati and Salt Lake City.=20 Pulling most of its service out of D/FW is part of a series of far-reaching changes to Delta's business plan aimed at saving the company more than $5 billion a year.=20 The company also plans to:=20 * Eliminate between 6,000 and 7,000 jobs over the next 18 months and reduce management costs by 15 percent through pay and benefit reductions.=20 * Ask its pilots union to give back $1 billion in wages and benefits.=20 * Simplify its aircraft, eliminating at least four fleet types in the next four years.=20 The air service changes are scheduled to take effect by Jan. 31.=20 Since Delta chief executive Gerald Grinstein presented his plan to the airline's board of directors three weeks ago, few hints had leaked out.=20 Delta officials and board members declined to comment Tuesday. Officials at Delta's hub airports and its only unionized employee group - the Delta chapter of the Air Line Pilots Association - also kept quiet.=20 As the smallest of Delta's hubs, D/FW airport represents low-hanging fruit as the airline looks to dramatically cut costs, many industry experts say.=20 Delta, the airport's No. 2 airline, is facing pressure from American Airlines Inc., which commands nearly three-fourths of the market. Last week, American announced 70 additional flights from its hometown hub.=20 Delta handled 17.3 percent of D/FW passengers - or 2.33 million - during the first six months of the year. The carrier has steadily decreased its market share during the last several years, and in 1991 commanded as much as 34 percent of the market.=20 It occupies 28 gates - nearly all of Terminal E - and employs about 4,000 in North Texas.=20 'Not much left'=20 Fast-growing discounter AirTran Airways Inc., which launched a mini-hub with four gates at D/FW a year ago, is also taking a bite out of the local passenger base.=20 "That means there's not much left for Delta," Mr. Neidl said, adding that D/FW Airport has been the weakest link in the carrier's system.=20 Max Wells, chairman of the D/FW Airport board and Dallas-based Oaks Bank & Trust Co., said cuts here may be inevitable, but they may also prove to be better for the airport in the long run.=20 Because so many Delta flights use regional jets that fly fewer passengers, the carrier's contribution to the airport's revenue is disproportionately small.=20 Filling the void=20 If Delta were to give up some of the 28 gates it operates at Terminal E and its satellite, D/FW would have an opportunity to attract a carrier using larger jets, Mr. Wells said.=20 "Somebody is sitting in those seats for Delta from this area, and some airline is going to fill that void," he said.=20 Mike Boyd, an industry consultant in Evergreen, Colo., said Delta's wholly owned regional partners have too many regional jets.=20 "Delta's overinvested in these planes," he said. "I don't know where they're going to go with them."=20 Mr. Boyd expects Delta's new strategy to de-emphasize its regional jet partners and concentrate on profitable hub flying, which should include its hometown hub in Atlanta as well as Cincinnati and Salt Lake City.=20 =20 http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/090804 dnbusdelta.5824b.html =20