Delta, we hardly knew ya.

Less than a month after starting service from Lincoln to Atlanta and Salt Lake City, Delta Air Lines has already decided to cancel the once-daily flights.

The Salt Lake City flight will end Aug. 17, and the Atlanta flight will end Aug. 31, the company said Monday.

Airport Executive Director John Wood said the flights have not done particularly well, with the Atlanta flight about 68 percent full on average and the Salt Lake City flight filling only 44 percent of its seats.

"It's very disappointing that passenger response has not been sufficient enough to encourage Delta to continue the services," Wood said.

"I had hoped they would give it a full six months," he said. "Their tolerance for underperformance is just real short."

A Delta spokesman called the flight cancellations "seasonal pull-downs."

"We expect to return to these markets next June, said Delta spokesman Anthony Black.

"Both routes are strong summer-month performers, and we'll connect them through MSP (Minneapolis) during other months," he said.

Black said that when the flights were originally announced in the spring, they were not intended as seasonal routes.

But after assessing market demand, Delta decided the flights were more popular during the summer months than they would be going forward, he said.

Wood said his understanding was that Delta was concerned that advance bookings for the flights were flat, and even declining, indicating that passenger numbers might decline in the fall.

Lincoln Airport Authority Chairman Chris Hove said Delta considering the flight seasonal was "kind of news to us."

"I hope that's the case (that the flight will come back)," he said. "That was not the initial understanding."

Executive Travel owner Steve Glenn, a former Airport Authority member, said he suspects the flights are "just a victim of the economy."

Delta earlier this month announced it was planning to cut one out of every 10 flights to deal with a drop in air travel and rising fuel prices.

The Atlanta and Salt Lake City routes appear to be the only Lincoln or Omaha flights being cut.

Delta, which now owns Northwest Airlines, plans no changes to Northwest Airlink service from Lincoln to Minneapolis.

Black also said there are no cuts planned to either Delta or Northwest service out of Eppley Airfield in Omaha.

Glenn said he feels Delta didn't really give the Lincoln flights a chance, with only one flight a day at an inconvenient time.

"They went swimming and just put their toe in," Glenn said. "They just didn't give it a chance."

Wood said he will talk to Delta about considering morning departures if the flights come back next summer. Both departures were in the afternoon.

"With Atlanta, especially, a morning departure would appeal to a broader range of passengers," he said.

Reach Matt Olberding at 473-2647 or molberding@journalstar.com.