Sun Country Airlines is cutting about 348 September departures after a wave of junior pilots based in Minneapolis-St. Paul moved to Delta Air Lines, creating a crew shortfall that is forcing schedule reductions across its network. The cancellations amount to roughly one-third of Sun Country’s planned flying for the month and centre on operations at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport.
Greg Anderson of Allegiant Travel, Sun Country’s parent, linked the attrition to pilots hired in the past three years and to stronger hiring at the dominant carrier in Minneapolis-St. Paul. The reductions go beyond simple frequency trimming: Sun Country has removed dozens of flights and suspended seven routes to match the crews available.
The move highlights how quickly labour pressure at a hub dominated by a legacy airline can disrupt a smaller carrier’s operations. Allegiant described the pilot departures as temporary, but did not give a timetable for normalisation, and the airline has not disclosed the exact number of pilots lost.