Delta will cut its schedule by 100 flights per day between July 1 and Aug. 7, as rising Covid-19 cases and vendors’ staffing shortages challenge operations. 

The Atlanta-based airline said the reductions will be made primarily to high-frequency markets in the U.S. and Latin America. 

“This will build additional resilience in our system and improve operational reliability for our customers and employees,” the carrier said. 

Delta joins several other U.S. airlines, including Alaska, Spirit, Southwest and JetBlue, in cutting capacity over the summer.

“More than any time in our history, the various factors currently impacting our operation — weather and air traffic control, vendor staffing, increased Covid case rates contributing to higher-than-planned unscheduled absences in some work groups — are resulting in an operation that isn’t consistently up to the standards Delta has set for the industry in recent years,” chief customer experience officer Allison Ausband said. 

Delta canceled 2% of its flights from May 1 through May 25, according Cirium data. 

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