Delta’s transatlantic route network is evolving in an interesting way. While the airline might be launching flights to Malta and Sardinia, it’s pulling out of a major business market, in which it’s seemingly unable to compete.
In this post:
Delta discontinuing flights to Geneva, Switzerland
Delta currently operates a summer seasonal flight between New York (JFK) and Geneva (GVA), which is the carrier’s only service to the city. Unfortunately it appears that this is coming to an end.
The current seasonal service will operate through October 20, 2025, though the flight has now been pulled from the schedule for next summer, as noted by @IshrionA. That means that based on current schedule filings, the airline will no longer fly to the airport at all.
The 3,863-mile seasonal flight is currently operated with the following schedule, using a Boeing 767-400ER:
DL100 New York to Geneva departing 8:50PM arriving 10:45AM (+1 day)
DL99 Geneva to New York departing 12:45PM arriving 3:30PM
Interestingly, Delta didn’t actually serve Geneva for many years, and only operated the route seasonally again starting in the summer of 2023. So the service will have lasted three summers, prior to being cut.
This latest route cut follows Delta’s recent decision to cancel its New York to Brussels (BRU) flight, instead choosing to shift the route to operating out of its Atlanta (ATL) mega hub.
Is Delta ending New York to Geneva service surprising?
Personally, I’m not surprised to see Delta pulling out of Geneva. I mean, the airline wasn’t actually really trying to compete in the market, given that the service has only been operated as a summer seasonal flight. You’d think that Geneva would be served as a year-round business route, rather than a summer seasonal route.
But of course this gets at a bigger issue — Delta really struggles in markets that are dominated by Lufthansa Group carriers, and for good reason. That’s not too surprising, as most of the hubs are business markets rather than leisure markets, and that makes it tougher to compete with the dominant carrier.
SWISS flies year-round between New York and Geneva, and of course Lufthansa Group carriers (plus United) have excellent connectivity between all points in the United States and Geneva. So no, I’m not surprised to see a summer seasonal route like this cut.
At the same time, it’s interesting to consider the bigger picture here. Delta is the largest airline in New York, and it likes to think of itself as the premium airline for business travelers. Nowadays airline route networks aren’t just about the profitability of each individual route, but they’re also about the overall portfolio of service you can offer, in an effort to generate credit card loyalty, secure corporate contracts, etc.
Last year we saw Delta axe its New York to Munich (MUC) route. Then we’ve just seen Delta cut its New York to Brussels route. Now we’re seeing the airline cut its New York to Geneva route. One would certainly assume that the days for the New York to Frankfurt (FRA) route are numbered as well, no?
As I said when the New York to Brussels route was cut, the way Delta positions itself at its New York hub continues to puzzle me. For example, it’s funny how despite Delta’s huge network there, the carrier chooses not to fly to Asia, even when it had the chance to.
In early 2024, the Department of Transportation (DOT) could award a US airline extra Tokyo Haneda (HND) slots, and airlines could make their proposals. You’d think that Delta would’ve expressed interest in New York to Tokyo, but it didn’t. Instead, American is flying the route (which… is something).
Bottom line
Delta will be cutting its seasonal New York to Geneva route, meaning the airline will no longer fly to this important city in Switzerland. In isolation, I wouldn’t think much of it, but it’s interesting to see Delta also cutting flights from New York to Munich and Brussels.
Despite its strong position in New York, Delta seemingly can’t compete in Lufthansa Group hubs. Then again, that’s not surprising when you’re serving what’s ostensibly a business market with a summer seasonal service. I’m just curious when the New York to Frankfurt flight gets cut…
What do you make of Delta cutting New York to Geneva flights?
GVA is a tough one for both airlines and hotels. It's often overlooked as a destination and viewed strictly as a business location, despite having incredible access to amazing places for both summer and winter activities. The city itself is definitely not my favorite, but it's nice having flights there for that access. I think for most people who are actually traveling to Switzerland, ZRH just provides much easier transfers and there is much more...
GVA is a tough one for both airlines and hotels. It's often overlooked as a destination and viewed strictly as a business location, despite having incredible access to amazing places for both summer and winter activities. The city itself is definitely not my favorite, but it's nice having flights there for that access. I think for most people who are actually traveling to Switzerland, ZRH just provides much easier transfers and there is much more airline service to choose from. From a tourist perspective, GVA is to Switzerland what Frankfurt is to Germany (though GVA is significantly nicer than FRA).
Hey Ben I think it's exaggerated to consider GVA a hub for Swiss as their booking system does not allow for connections there and the wide-bodies are operated from ZRH as a big rotation (ZRH-JFK-GVA-JFK-ZRH). Maybe focus city depicts better the situation. And focus city is a generous word: they mostly operate leisure traffic to Spain and Greece and feeder flights to LHG bigger hubs.
It is a pity for GVA as DL lowered...
Hey Ben I think it's exaggerated to consider GVA a hub for Swiss as their booking system does not allow for connections there and the wide-bodies are operated from ZRH as a big rotation (ZRH-JFK-GVA-JFK-ZRH). Maybe focus city depicts better the situation. And focus city is a generous word: they mostly operate leisure traffic to Spain and Greece and feeder flights to LHG bigger hubs.
It is a pity for GVA as DL lowered fares. Economy tickets are always cheap: the market's core is business travel, especially for corporate contracts (UN, NGOs finance) and high-value cargo like watches and gold. I have to assume too little of that high value traffic was willing to switch to a fourth player (consider AC to YUL as well). Let's not forget the reduced spending following UN's budget cuts.
In my personal experience travelling in J to the Midwest, United's EWR connections were always better than Delta's JFK ones. And UA had a backup through IAD. So despite lower seasonal fares on DL flying was always on UA.
It's a pity as pricing will increase again despite 100% of the market being served by less comfortable old generation aircraft with nosebleed inducing moisture levels...
NGL I get a semi chub when delta cancels a route
Weirdo
oh look. Fake Julie is back at it today.
Here to talk about your multiple personalities again or will you just do that from your Tim Dunn account?
Weirdo
I looked at flying to Switzerland this past winter for snowsports. UA/LX was close to 50% cheaper than Delta in Prem Eco. There's just no way to defend paying that much more.
And I see that fare difference to many European destinations. Delta now throwing darts at a map of Europe and hoping people will pony up a premium price for a relatively undifferentiated product is something. Is it a strategy?
Keep in mind the NJ-Geneva route premium customers are pharmaceutical industry executives. JFK is at a big disadvantage there.
Not for LX, which has flown the route continuously since the 1970s (first SR, then LX).
NGO/pseudo-Gov traffic is more heavily concentrated at JFK while pharma traffic including cargo is heavier at EWR.
there is obviously spill both ways but pharma is the corporate part of the GVA market and it favors NJ and northern PA
Not surprising at all. Delta was never going to succeed in this market. Swiss and *A have the lock on this market and have for decades. Interesting to see Delta ending some flights to Europe from JFK (BRU, GVA). Not surprising, but clearly, there was some froth.
SWISS is not top-10, but boy is it so far better than Delta!
No surprises, anyone in business or with money is flying SWISS (they're no dummies, or they probably wouldn't be wealthy).
I’m no Delta stan, but this is so wrong it’s laughable. I don’t think there’s a single aspect of the Swiss business class experience that is above average on this route.
Swiss’s lounge (Lufthansa business in T1) is terrible. Literally not even comparable to the Delta One lounge.
Swiss’s hard product on the A330 is woefully uncompetitive in 2025 — uncomfortable seats, tiny and low resolution TVs, and some seats without all-aisle access....
I’m no Delta stan, but this is so wrong it’s laughable. I don’t think there’s a single aspect of the Swiss business class experience that is above average on this route.
Swiss’s lounge (Lufthansa business in T1) is terrible. Literally not even comparable to the Delta One lounge.
Swiss’s hard product on the A330 is woefully uncompetitive in 2025 — uncomfortable seats, tiny and low resolution TVs, and some seats without all-aisle access. Granted the Delta One seats on the 767-400 aren’t winning any awards, but they’ve at least been refurbished recently and are far superior to what Swiss offers.
Swiss’s catering is below average. Delta isn’t exactly serving gourmet meals, but they do have better food than Swiss (and even better champagne!)
Delta’s IFE is FAR superior (not to mention the free WiFi as compared to Swiss’s extortionately priced WiFi).
I literally cannot think of a single aspect of the experience where Swiss outperforms Delta.
The European carriers (other than Air France, Turkish, and arguably British) have fallen so far. It’s sad, really. The US airlines have essentially lapped them all at this point.
Geneva is gorgeous, and so is Lausanne (40 minutes away by train). The world's best ski areas are right outside the town. But who would fly there on Delta is beyond me. Swiss has so much better service, and flight attendants speak French.
“But who would fly there on Delta is beyond me. Swiss has so much better service, and flight attendants speak French.”
Is this a joke? I can’t speak to Swiss’s economy service, but Swiss business class is an absolute joke — among the absolute worst of any carrier across the Atlantic. I flew Swiss business class on JFK-GVA last month and was so incredibly disappointed. The seats are uncomfortable (and don’t all have aisle access),...
“But who would fly there on Delta is beyond me. Swiss has so much better service, and flight attendants speak French.”
Is this a joke? I can’t speak to Swiss’s economy service, but Swiss business class is an absolute joke — among the absolute worst of any carrier across the Atlantic. I flew Swiss business class on JFK-GVA last month and was so incredibly disappointed. The seats are uncomfortable (and don’t all have aisle access), the TVs are tiny and low resolution, the service was forgettable and the food was average at best (and there wasn’t even a hot food item for breakfast (????)). Delta One blows Swiss’s business class out of the water — and it’s not close.
And yet DL is the one ending the route.
As saying goes: Accept with simplicity everything that happens to you.
What is happening with the slots being freed up by these cancellations? I.e. where are they refocusing their assets at JFK?
DL is operating 4 more slots this summer than it has the slots for due to the waivers airlines like AA are using.
DL has so far added Olbia / Malta for one slot, but is cutting LGW, BRU, and GVA now freeing up 3 slots.
The waivers were extended for another year, but even with these cuts DL is slightly above summer capacity that they have, so there isn’t a ton of flexibility for new adds.
Lucky, you mention that SWISS is the only carrier flying New York to Geneva and "has the market to itself", but United does as well - UA Flight 956 from EWR to GVA (no need for anyone to be pedantic, EWR obviously serves the New York market).
Given that Swiss and United have a joint venture, Star Alliance absolutely dominates the market.
@Dolphin Lucky wrote about how it is the carrier’s only service to Geneva and he was referring to Delta. He mentioned how United besides the Lufthansa group airlines fly to Geneva as well from all points in the U.S.
first, GVA is not a business market; it is an NGO and pseudo-government center just like BRU. Those types of markets do not generate fares as high as a true business markets and they book much more in blocks than corporate/business markets.
second, yes, the LH Group dominates its market, many of which are are smaller than other big European hubs, and UA has aligned itself to expand on that dominance. It is no...
first, GVA is not a business market; it is an NGO and pseudo-government center just like BRU. Those types of markets do not generate fares as high as a true business markets and they book much more in blocks than corporate/business markets.
second, yes, the LH Group dominates its market, many of which are are smaller than other big European hubs, and UA has aligned itself to expand on that dominance. It is no different than what DL does in ATL, DTW, MSP and SLC - but the difference is that DL is profitable in its hubs while LH as a standalone is barely profitable, Brussels is not, and LX is quite profitable.
third, DL's industry leading profitability including on its international system is because it culls what doesn't work and adds more of what does. DOT data for the 2nd quarter shows that DL's profitability over the Atlantic was almost 2X more than UA's and 4X more than AA's. Flying to every dot some geek in route planning can find is not a metric for success.
fourth, DL passed on JFK-HND at a time when US-Tokyo traffic was weak from reduced Japanese travel to the US and had not flipped to heavy US originating passengers. There will be movement in HND slots for US carriers because AS wants into HND and UA still wants to fix its Tokyo network including flying IAH-HND instead of NRT.
fifth, DL "borrowed" flight time for the short-lived JFK-MUC from DTW-MUC which has been reinstated.
DL still is the largest carrier in terms of flights from NYC with dominance of the domestic market. UA will continue to prioritize international flights from its reduced EWR presence and will pay the price in reduce contribution from its credit card and loyalty program which favors domestic revenue over international revenue.
@ Tim Dunn -- So why do you think the route failed? And if it's an NGO market, why did Delta operate it as a summer seasonal flight?
Also, Delta's profitability is no longer industry leading. Emirates' profitability is industry leading. But I digress (and please don't exclusively focus on this comment in your response)...
The fact that he doesn’t consider Geneva to be a business city shows how little he knows, Lucky.
DL did not get enough of the NGO/pseudo government traffic; same as BRU.
DL tried to compensate by flying it seasonally to get high leisure fares but that is not enough and does not incentivize the little corporate and much larger NGO traffic to choose DL.
I have said before that all of the US airlines are for profit companies first and foremost. DL has to maximize profits first of all. The mere fact that...
DL did not get enough of the NGO/pseudo government traffic; same as BRU.
DL tried to compensate by flying it seasonally to get high leisure fares but that is not enough and does not incentivize the little corporate and much larger NGO traffic to choose DL.
I have said before that all of the US airlines are for profit companies first and foremost. DL has to maximize profits first of all. The mere fact that DL outperforms UA in international profitability metrics despite UA's lower labor costs says that DL is willing to cull what doesn't work and build on what does.
And further regarding NYC-Asia, DL moves very methodically. DL focused for years on building SEA-Asia - might or might not do more later, is now building LAX-Asia, and will build JFK-Asia.
DL's profitability leads US carriers. If DL could get by with sourcing its employees from countries so it could pay its employees EK level wages, DL's profits would clearly be much higher. not even UA is willing to pay its employees US industry leading salaries despite its CEO repeatedly saying so. AA gets more credit for paying its employees market rates than UA does.
@ Tim Dunn -- Right, but *why* wasn't Delta able to get that traffic? We know Delta wasn't able to make it work, but what I'm curious to get your take on is why Delta couldn't make it work. When Delta announced something, you always talk about why it's going to be successful. Then when Delta ends a route, you point out how the airline is the most profitable, but don't address why a particular...
@ Tim Dunn -- Right, but *why* wasn't Delta able to get that traffic? We know Delta wasn't able to make it work, but what I'm curious to get your take on is why Delta couldn't make it work. When Delta announced something, you always talk about why it's going to be successful. Then when Delta ends a route, you point out how the airline is the most profitable, but don't address why a particular route failed.
When the route launched, you said the following:
-- "DL is clearly counting corporate/government/NGO revenue. Specifically because UA and LX have had a monopoly, DL can come in and price at levels lower than Star and still do well."
-- "As much as you want to argue otherwise, DL's ability to add new routes including in markets such as GVA is a direct result of the $2 billion cost advantage which DL has."
So what has changed?
I just explained, Ben, that pseudo-gov/NGO traffic books in much larger blocks than corporate traffic. DL could not break into that which is not surprising given that LX covers JFK and UA covers EWR.
It is just as much about dominating European markets as DL does in its domestic markets.
and DL may well have undercut LX and UA but did not succeed; neither you or I have access to negotiated pricing but the...
I just explained, Ben, that pseudo-gov/NGO traffic books in much larger blocks than corporate traffic. DL could not break into that which is not surprising given that LX covers JFK and UA covers EWR.
It is just as much about dominating European markets as DL does in its domestic markets.
and DL may well have undercut LX and UA but did not succeed; neither you or I have access to negotiated pricing but the formula didn't work.
This is the time of the year that DL culls poor performing routes and adds new routes. We may have heard all we will about new routes from DL for 2026 but it should be obvious that DL will be larger across the Atlantic in 2026 than it was in 2025. How those pieces come together may fascinate you but the big picture is what matters.
I realize you are neither a big picture or a numbers person but you should be asking the question as to why DL is so much more profitable than UA on its international system even though UA touts the size of its international system. You do rightly acknowledge that UA has a labor cost advantage right now.
It is remarkable that CF used DOT profitability data to write about non-publicly traded companies like Breeze and yet you have readers that think that data is all made up and manipulated. CF is by far the most analytical aviation blogger on the internet. There is real value to that data.
Jordan's observations are accurate.
Dolphin,
UA probably makes more money on pharma shipments - which the 787-10 can maximize than on pharma execs up front. and pharma cargo books in large blocks just like government/NGO traffic.
“ It is remarkable that CF used DOT profitability data to write about non-publicly traded companies like Breeze and yet you have readers that think that data is all made up and manipulated. ”
For the 100th time now, tim?
It isn’t made up. You just try to use dot geographic revenue data to compare regional profitability between the US3 and, as you’ve been told many times, it can’t be used in that way since...
“ It is remarkable that CF used DOT profitability data to write about non-publicly traded companies like Breeze and yet you have readers that think that data is all made up and manipulated. ”
For the 100th time now, tim?
It isn’t made up. You just try to use dot geographic revenue data to compare regional profitability between the US3 and, as you’ve been told many times, it can’t be used in that way since there is no standardized reporting required by DOT.
The dot financial data certainly can tell you who is the most profitable overall, but it does not provide the insights you love to use it for. It simply says delta is the most profitable overall. It does not say delta is more profitable than United transatlantic or in the pacific.
Your ignorance doesn’t mean others think the dot makes up data, it just means you never learn what data is and is not.
But then again, here we are explaining the same simple revenue accounting concepts to you for years now…
@Max, you're 100% right, but what's the point in bringing up that fact (that DOT data is way less meaningful at a region level). Tim will just ignore the things he can't argue against and parrot the same bullet points as always.
UA advantages: EWR is a connecting hub, high-J 767 with Polaris suites & PP, stable year round service and Star Alliance connectivity, and it's not isolated.
TATL destinations: 2016/2025
UA: 22/42
DL: 32/34 (33 w/o GVA)
AA: 21/20
I absolutely LOVE that Ben has the receipts on Tim’s contradictions. lol
I keep meaning to look up Tim’s comments on the “inefficient” split airport hubs in Tokyo and London, while also pointing out that DL’s split hub in NYC is perfect.
Having booked and flown this route several times, award availability has historically been fantastic (through partners and in J, no less). Fares have also been kept quite low due to competition (e.g. Y GVA-NYC is typically $400-500 nonstop roundtrip on DL/LX/UA). With the route ending, I expect prices will go up significantly.
It's important to note that Geneva's NGO / expat community has faced a huge cull in the last year (due to US funding...
Having booked and flown this route several times, award availability has historically been fantastic (through partners and in J, no less). Fares have also been kept quite low due to competition (e.g. Y GVA-NYC is typically $400-500 nonstop roundtrip on DL/LX/UA). With the route ending, I expect prices will go up significantly.
It's important to note that Geneva's NGO / expat community has faced a huge cull in the last year (due to US funding cuts to UN & other NGOs), with budgets for non-essential travel / staff significantly reduced. Although, GVA-NYC is the one route that has an exception for UN travel policies of 9hrs+ for J.
GVA is a major business market for the pharma industry. UN traffic is secondary. There's a reason UA sends the high-premium 767 with 46 business seats there.
Tim “Facts” Dunn again speaking out of his ass without ever mentioning the facts he is so obsessed about. One more cancelled route by Delta and he will likely need internment at an asylum.
He thinks of he keeps saying “pseudo-gov/NGO traffic” enough times it’ll be true.
the only people that are at risk of an asylum are those that cannot accept real facts.
DL makes far more money than any other US airline and is still the largest airline on widebody equipment to Europe. UA's size is larger only because of its use of narrowbodies which AA and DL do not do. AA and UA will fly the XLR but DL will not.
Every well-run company gets rid of low performing...
the only people that are at risk of an asylum are those that cannot accept real facts.
DL makes far more money than any other US airline and is still the largest airline on widebody equipment to Europe. UA's size is larger only because of its use of narrowbodies which AA and DL do not do. AA and UA will fly the XLR but DL will not.
Every well-run company gets rid of low performing lines of business and adds others while keeping and growing its core, profitable businesses. That is true of hotels, sports teams, media companies - and airlines.
Some people want to turn everything into a pi8uoing match by highlighting any seeming setback while those of us that understand business are capable of looking at the big picture.
I do not hold onto any single route or hub. I do look at the big picture and DL clearly does as well.
JFK-GVA and BRU will not make or break DL in NYC.
and to Ben's observation, I would strongly bet that DL will fly JFK-HND at some point and maybe BOS-HND; DL will add multiple JFK-Asia flights and will be able to do far more than UA solely because of the greater capabilities and size of the A350 family compared to the 787. DL already serves more of S. America from JFK than UA does from EWR - even before adding the LA JV.
No matter how much some people want to argue how superior they are, no airline - including DL - or any other business can and will be all things to all people.
Tim Dunn says, "DL makes far more money than any other US airline and is still the largest airline on widebody equipment to Europe. UA's size is larger only because of its use of narrowbodies which AA and DL do not do. AA and UA will fly the XLR but DL will not."
Wide body aircraft
UA: 228 with 30 more 787s by the end of next year.
DL: 187 with 9 more WBs by the end of next year.
@rebel
...Is that his new wording? lol. That delta flies more wide bodies to Europe?
He used to say delta flew more wide bodies out of nyc than United which is not true, at all, and was proven to him.
I guess he had to find a new thing to make up and hope no one looks it up.
But the nice thing is it’s an easy thing to look up:
@rebel
Is that his new wording? lol. That delta flies more wide bodies to Europe?
He used to say delta flew more wide bodies out of nyc than United which is not true, at all, and was proven to him.
I guess he had to find a new thing to make up and hope no one looks it up.
But the nice thing is it’s an easy thing to look up:
2025: United flies more widebody flights to Europe than delta and more ASMs.
2025 widebody flights USEurope UA: 53,400
ASMs: 57,430,551,148
2025 widebody flights USEurope DL: 52,029
ASMs: 56,593,097,468
Oh tim. You’re still wrong. Do you even bother looking up what you say? I know you make up most of what you say but this is sad that you make it so easy to show that to others.
Oh and Tim?
Delta does fly narrowbodies to Europe, per their own JV definition of Europe.
You need new talking points. Your current ones are just not reality, much like your current mental state.
Tim says every company gets rid of low-performing lines, but why does DL have so many low-performing lines from NYC?
DL dropped MUC, BRU, GVA, didn’t even bother applying for HND, no India, only one TLV flight
Yes those are Star hubs, but DL’s strength in NYC should make all of those markets easy wins, especially to business markets.
UA has five flights to AMS and six to CDG, even those are SkyTeam...
Tim says every company gets rid of low-performing lines, but why does DL have so many low-performing lines from NYC?
DL dropped MUC, BRU, GVA, didn’t even bother applying for HND, no India, only one TLV flight
Yes those are Star hubs, but DL’s strength in NYC should make all of those markets easy wins, especially to business markets.
UA has five flights to AMS and six to CDG, even those are SkyTeam hubs. DL should be able to maintain at least one flight from NYC to all the cities they’ve dropped or not even started. UA only dropped Bergen, a station DL would never even attempt.
DL operates approximately 15% more flights in NYC, just to carry a similar number of passengers and half the cargo as UA. That alone speaks to some of DL’s struggles in NYC. An inefficient split airport hubs, RJ-heavy, one of them restricted by a perimeter rule. Those are some of the reasons DL makes so much less NYC revenue than UA does.
Meanwhile, Kirby has stated plans to take EWR up to *100* widebody departures per day. Dozens of 787 deliveries will make their next route announcement very interesting.
@Tim Dunn
I was under the impression that PERFECT airlines didn't start flights they had to discontinue. LOL
this thing was a strategic blunder from the start
I don't see this as a loss.
It could be a loss for people traveling between the 2 cities as it is one less option for them.