By Steve Huettel, Times Staff Writer
Friday, January 21, 2011
Tampa International's next international flight is stumbling out of the gate.
And that can't be a good sign for the airport's efforts to bolster its scant number of nonstop routes outside the country.
On Feb. 19, Delta Air Lines starts seasonal service to Cancun, the Mexican beach resort that's ground zero for college spring-breakers. Delta's dipping a toe in the water to test the market. The airline will fly only on Saturdays. Its original spring schedule ran through April — a total of 11 flights.
But recently, Delta called customers booked to fly in April with bad news. Their direct flights were canceled and they'd need to fly to Cancun and back with a layover in the airline's Atlanta mega-hub.
The reason: Faced with weak demand for tickets, Delta pulled the plug on all ...