Delta’s New Express to Offer Low-Fare Flights to Florida

Delta Air Lines Inc. entered the low-cost air fare fray Thursday, announcing it will launch a new service called Delta Express on Oct. 1 flying from the Midwest and Northeast to five Florida cities.

The daily, nonstop service will begin with 62 flights and increase to 128 flights by January, according to Skip Barnette, managing director of Delta’s low-fare business unit.

Delta announced the initiative nearly a year ago in an effort to address stiff competition from low-fare rivals such as Southwest Airlines Co. Delta’s fares will range from $19 to $159 with an average one-way fare of $82.

At a news conference Thursday, company executives said Delta studied the low-cost market for two years and the timing of the announcement resulted from a good contract agreement with its pilots in April rather than a reaction to Southwest, which entered the Florida market in January.

Delta Express will serve Orlando, Tampa, Fort Lauderdale, Fort Myers and West Palm Beach, from these cities: Hartford, Conn.; Washington; Indianapolis; Louisville, Ky.; Boston; Springfield, Mass.; Newark, N.J.; Columbus, Ohio; Philadelphia; Providence-Newport, R.I.; and Nashville.