Delta plans to reduce flights from LAX by 13%

Delta Air Lines, struggling with high fuel costs, plans to slash about 13% of its flights at Los Angeles International Airport, including nonstop service to Boston, Hartford, Conn., and Columbus, Ohio, according to a national flight database.

The latest cuts would be the deepest so far at LAX, which had managed to escape the brunt of an industrywide move to ground flights as a way to cope with escalating fuel prices. Delta is the fourth-largest carrier at the airport.

With the cutbacks, passengers can expect higher fares and fewer travel options, particularly to Mexico and other Latin American destinations. In all, Delta plans to end service on nine routes from LAX, including to several cities in Mexico, starting in late August.

For Delta, the cutbacks would in effect end the Atlanta-based carrier’s plans to expand at LAX and make the largest airport in Southern California one of its major hubs. Other cities that Delta has already cut this year from its LAX schedule include Fort Lauderdale, Fla., and Ixtapa, Mexico. It has also suspended plans to launch a nonstop service to Washington’s Dulles International Airport from LAX.

Although the airline has not publicly disclosed the route cuts, local managers and airport officials were notified of the changes this week. A Delta spokesman couldn’t confirm all of the routes that would be cut but said they were part of an overall company effort to cut domestic flights by 13%.

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peter.pae@latimes.com