Delta Connection is a brand name under which Delta Air Lines has air service agreements with domestic regional air carriers that feed traffic to their network by serving passengers primarily in small and medium-sized cities in the domestic market, allowing a better match of capacity with demand in these markets. These include Delta's wholly owned subsidiary Endeavor Air and its third-party contractors Republic Airways and SkyWest Airlines.
These agreements are primarily capacity purchase arrangements, where Delta controls scheduling, pricing, reservations, ticketing, and seat inventories for the flights. Delta is entitled to all ticket, cargo, mail, in-flight, and ancillary revenues from these flights, while paying the regional airlines a defined amount based on their operating costs and market rates. These capacity purchase agreements are typically long-term, often lasting at least ten years with an option to extend. Some agreements grant Delta the right to terminate or remove certain aircraft for convenience at specific future dates. Additionally, SkyWest Airlines operates some flights under a revenue proration agreement, which divides the revenue for connecting flight itineraries based on a fixed dollar or percentage division.
