Delta Air Lines Looking for Ways to Trim Back Costs

Delta Air Lines Chairman Ronald W. Allen said Wednesday that the carrier is trying to cut costs to manage its way out of the recession, which has killed three big carriers and handed enormous losses to the others.

Although Allen declined to specify how he hopes to do this, he acknowledged the possibility that Atlanta-based Delta could slow its delivery of new aircraft, mimicking similar moves by rivals American and United.

“We’re looking at everything,” Allen said in an interview. “We’re not saying anything is sacred as such.”

Delta probably won’t make any changes for about two months, Allen said.

When and if changes come, it’s unclear what they might mean for the airline, which had humble beginnings as a Southern crop duster. Last year, it pulled off one of the biggest deals in aviation history by swallowing the transatlantic routes of now-defunct Pan American World Airways.