Delta adds premium seats on transcontinental route while dropping two Las Vegas-California flights

Delta will discontinue two routes from Las Vegas’ Harry Reid International Airport (LAS) to Sacramento International Airport (SMF) and San Jose Mineta International Airport (SJC), with final flights scheduled for Jan. 11, 2026. The carrier previously operated up to three daily flights from LAS to SJC and two daily flights from LAS to SMF using Embraer E175 aircraft with up to 76 seats.

The decision follows broader changes at Delta, which is set to increase overall seat capacity by 2% in the second half of 2025 compared with the same period last year, based on data from Cirium, an aviation analytics firm.

Delta’s growth includes new routes such as Austin-Bergstrom International Airport (AUS) to Denver International Airport (DEN), which will launch in November as part of an expansion at AUS. In December, Delta will begin its first-ever service from the U.S. to Melbourne Airport (MEL) in Australia and start flying between Salt Lake City International Airport (SLC) and Jorge Chávez International Airport (LIM) in Lima, Peru.

Competition remains strong for the dropped Las Vegas routes; Frontier Airlines, Southwest Airlines, and Spirit Airlines also fly between LAS-SJC and LAS-SMF. However, industry analysts suggest that the cuts may be linked more closely to trends in tourism than competitive pressures.

Las Vegas saw a decrease of about 7% in visitor numbers during the first half of 2025 compared with last year—falling to 19.6 million visitors—according to data from the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority https://www.lvcva.com/research/visitor-statistics/. Courtney Miller of Visual Approach Analytics noted that "when the belt gets tightened as travelers consider a slowdown, Vegas is one of the first places that feels the pain." He added that outside of pandemic years, Las Vegas has not experienced such a significant drop since record-keeping began in 1970.

A Delta spokesperson said these route reductions are intended "to better 'align with consumer demand.'"