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Sun Country Airlines has had to make significant cuts to its September schedules out of 
Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport (MSP) in the US state of Minnesota. A key reason behind these dramatic alterations is reportedly the fact that the carrier is suffering high rates of pilot attrition. Specifically, increased hiring at Delta Air Lines has resulted in many of Sun Country’s junior pilots jumping ship.
Sun Country Airlines‘ position was explained in the recent second-quarter earnings call held by Allegiant Air, its new parent company. During the call, while Allegiant CEO Greg Anderson did not explicitly name Delta as the destination for its departing junior pilots, he alluded to them joining “the largest full-service carrier [at] MSP,” a title that can only be held by the SkyTeam member. Let’s examine the situation.
Sun Country’s MSP Capacity Is Down Almost 40% This September
According to current scheduling data made available by Cirium, an aviation analytics company, Sun Country Airlines is set to operate some 344 flights out of MSP this September, offering a grand total of 63,866 seats in the process. Compared to last September’s totals of 567 flights and 105,477 seats, these totals represent respective year-on-year declines of 39.3% and 39.5%. ASMs are down by 37.3%.
According to Airline Geeks, Allegiant CEO Greg Anderson confirmed in the recent call that pilot attrition at MSP is a driving force behind these cuts, as he noted that pilots “want to work for a full-service carrier.” With Delta having reportedly increased hiring by “maybe double or more” at MSP, this gave Sun Country Pilots, many of whom had only joined in recent years, an easy way out. Anderson explained that:
“Over the past few months, Sun Country has experienced elevated pilot attrition, concentrated among its junior MSP pilots and largely driven by increased hiring at the largest carrier in the Twin Cities.”
Delta’s Dominance
Diving deeper into the data from Cirium, the dominance of 
Delta Air Lines at MSP is plain to see. The Atlanta-based US ‘big three’ legacy carrier and SkyTeam founding member is clearly the “largest carrier in the Twin Cities” that Anderson is alluding to, with the airline set to operate some 9,557 flights out of MSP this September. This represents a 0.7% increase compared to September 2025’s 9,489.
Delta’s presence at MSP isn’t just dominant, but it is also diverse, with the carrier operating just about every kind of route imaginable out of its Minnesota hub. Indeed, of its 9,557 departures next month, 3,498 will be operated by its feeder partners under the Delta Connection regional brand, with all but 232 of this batch of flights being domestic. Internal flights also dominate Delta’s mainline operations at MSP.
Indeed, of the 6,059 mainline services that Delta Air Lines is set to operate out of the Twin Cities next month, 5,588 will serve destinations that are located within the United States of America. This leaves 471 mainline international flights (up 5.6% vs 446 in September 2025), with the most popular destinations being Vancouver (YVR) and Calgary (YYC). Further afield, Amsterdam (AMS) is its top route to Europe.
The Bigger Picture In Minneapolis
When looking at operations in Minneapolis as a whole, Delta’s dominance becomes even clearer. Indeed, the 9,557 flights that it is set to operate out of MSP next month represent some 77.5% of the facility’s entire monthly total for September (12,329). For context, American Airlines is the next largest carrier by flights, but, with a total of just 650, it only accounts for 5.3% of MSP’s monthly services.
United Airlines ranks third by this metric, with 647 flights. However, it comfortably exceeds American in terms of seats, with these services able to accommodate a total of 96,139 flyers, compared to AA’s 81,948. Southwest is MSP’s fourth-largest carrier, with 490 flights and 81,912 seats in September, with Sun Country ranking fifth. Smaller operators include Frontier, Alaska Airlines, WestJet, and Air Canada.
