Delta will suspend Worcester service Oct. 1, eliminating last commercial flight

Photo | Grant Welker With flights to Florida, New York City, Philadelphia and Detroit, the terminal at Worcester Regional Airport was seeing more traffic than it did before the coronavirus pandemic hit.

Write a Comment

By Monica Benevides

The Worcester Regional Airport may be without any commercial service as soon as Oct. 1, with Delta Air Lines planning to suspend service to the city next month.

“As demand recovers, we hope to resume service to ORH in the future. Customers whose travel is impacted as a result of this service suspension will be reaccommodated,” the airline said in a statement. “We continue to evaluate our overall network schedule based on the evolving nature of COVID-19, customer demand, government travel regulations and federal health guidelines.”

As it stands, Delta offers daily flights from Worcester to Detroit. Delta, which is headquartered in Atlanta, still had flights to and from Worcester for sale on its website, as far out as at least November, as of Thursday morning.

Massport spokesperson Jennifer Mehigan also confirmed Delta's stoppage.

"Delta reported to us that they would be suspending their operations at ORH in October," Mehigan said. "This move is not unexpected, as every major airline has had to make tough decisions at a time when demand for flying and travel is so low. We continue to have conversations with our airline partners and look forward to commercial service returning to Worcester in the near future."

The other two airlines that serve Worcester, JetBlue and American Airlines, both received U.S. Department of Transportation approval in late spring to temporarily suspend service to the city through the end of September. Prior to the coronavirus pandemic, JetBlue offered nonstop service to New York City, Orlando and Fort Lauderdale. American offered nonstop service to Philadelphia. It was not immediately clear if and when either of those airlines planned to resume service to Central Massachusetts.

Separately, Massport and the Worcester Regional Chamber of Commerce announced on Wednesday they are conducting a survey of area business leaders, soliciting information about how they use the airport, with the goal of receiving 1,000 responses by Oct. 1. The groups plan to use the information to recruit more airlines and flights to the airport.