DELTA Air Lines is planning to cut capacity on UK-US flights following a dispute with pilots.
Failure to agree payment levels for pilots of the new Boeing 777s means the airline has deferred a £1.4bn order for the jets.
The B777s currently in service on Gatwick flights to Atlanta and Cincinnati are expected to be replaced by smaller B767s.
Sales manager UK Paul Maine confirmed Delta had deferred an order for 11 B777s and that the two already in Delta’s fleet were being marketed to rival airlines.
He said Delta was looking at 195-seater B767s to replace the 275-seater B777s. The switch barely reduces BusinessElite capacity, but economy seats drop from 223 to 147.
Maine said Delta had announced the capacity changes to ensure agents were not misled about aircraft used on ex-UKroutes for the winter.
“We needed to stop any disruption immediately as we have to have our winter schedule loaded onto computer reservation systems by August 1,” he said.
However, Maine said talks with pilots were still going on, and if there was agreement, the order for the B777 order will be back on.
He said: “We want to pay pilots above industry rates, but they want 47% extra and 37% more pilots.”
In the long-term Delta is planning to take delivery of larger B767 aircraft, but this will not help them in the next year if it fails to end the dispute.
Maine said that not only would Delta suffer from lack of capacity, but the carrier had already spent $30m in training staff and crews to operate the long-haul Boeing.