Delta Air Lines carried 16.1 million long-haul passengers in 2025. According to the US Department of Transportation, it was the SkyTeam member’s best year to date for such traffic. It exceeded its prior record, which was held in 2024, by a decent 5%. Nearly one in seven of the country’s long-haul passengers flew Delta.

Airline networks never stay the same. For example, Delta is set to introduce multiple new long-haul routes in 2026, including perhaps the most unusual addition: Atlanta to Riyadh. But, it is rarely all good news.

These Two Long-Haul Routes Ended Last March

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Using OAG data to examine Delta’s schedule since January 2025 shows that six long-haul routes have been cut. This excludes one-offs, other time-limited links, and postponements. This includes Boston-Tel Aviv, with that route temporarily removed due to the Iran war. It is not known when it will return.

In March 2025, Delta ceased flying between Orlando and London Heathrow. This highly unusual offering, at least for a US carrier, was to supplement its transatlantic joint venture and equity partner Virgin Atlantic. Delta had only operated since October 2024, mainly four times a week on the Airbus A330-900. Flights left Orlando around or after midnight. These factors, and more, contributed to just 63.4% of seats being filled, although it was just 60.1% in the three months of 2025.

Flights between Boston and São Paulo Guarulhos also ended last March, having only started in January. This route was an anomaly in Delta’s network. That’s because it temporarily replaced joint venture partner LATAM, in which it owns a stake—like it does in Virgin. LATAM has served the route since 2018.

Delta was never designed to serve this route for long. The final flight left Massachusetts on March 27, with LATAM returning on March 31. Delta operated three times a week on the A330-300. The DOT shows that it transported 15,378 passengers and filled 80.4% of seats. In contrast, between January-March 2024, LATAM carried 20,060 passengers and filled 86.7% of seats, despite higher-capacity aircraft.

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These Three Long-Haul Routes Ended Between June & October

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In June 2025, Delta ceased flying between Los Angeles and Papeete. The long market, which covers 3,558 nautical miles (6,589 km) each way, had operated since December 2022. Served seasonally, Delta operated three times weekly on the Boeing 767-300ER. The route to Tahiti, in French Polynesia, was quite an unusual addition, although the local Los Angeles market is reasonably sized (140,000 passengers).

Delta was aiming for outbound tourist traffic, but it faced Air France (a joint venture partner) and Air Tahiti Nui; all of Air France flights begin/end in Paris CDG, while some of Air Tahiti Nui’s Los Angeles services continue to the French capital. Meanwhile, United and French bee operate from San Francisco; French bee flights start/end in Paris Orly.

The DOT shows that Delta carried 58,454 passengers, but with a paltry seat factor of 67.4%. Booking data indicates that approximately four in ten passengers connected elsewhere in the US. Interestingly, United does poorly from San Francisco. In 2024, for example, only 61.4% of seats were filled, which rose to a still-poor 72.2% in 2025 following Delta’s exit from Los Angeles. These results were despite United’s huge network behind San Francisco.

Last September, Delta ended flights between New York JFK and London Gatwick, which saw it exit the UK’s second-busiest airport again. JetBlue and British Airways have also ceased serving that airport pair. All three operators consolidated around their London Heathrow flights. In October, Delta’s final New York-Geneva flight took off. After a multi-decade absence, the carrier only returned to the Swiss city in 2023.

Only One Long-Haul Route Has Ended In 2026 (So Far)

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Despite being served for many years, Delta’s final departure from New York JFK to Brussels took off on January 5, 2026. For a long time, a daily operation was available. However, Delta reduced the route’s frequency to four weekly in 2025, while few flights were available in January 2025 and none in February. It is increasingly common for airlines to reduce or eliminate transatlantic flights in February, which is one of the hardest months to make work.

Obviously, reducing the frequency from daily in 2024 to four weekly in 2025 necessarily meant that available seats were reduced significantly—down by 49.4%. This meant that traffic fell a lot too, from 258,660 passengers in 2024 to 178,592 the following year—a drop of 51.9%.

The bigger reduction in traffic perhaps reflected a less competitive offer. The greater drop in passengers meant that the average load factor fell too, from 83.2% to 79.2%. Even the peak summer months did not exceed 83.1%. The route remains served by Brussels Airlines, which will be pleased with Delta’s exit. Its share and performance will improve, especially as it has only added 2.5% more seats for sale this year.