Delta Enhances Comfort on Minneapolis to Northern Minnesota Flights

Folks travelling by air between Minneapolis and Northern Minnesota cities are going to be getting a little more comfort on their flights starting in September.

Delta Airline's regional partner SkyWest Airlines is adding Bombardier CRJ-550 jets on two Minneapolis (MSP) routes to both Bemidji (BJI) and International Falls (INL). Both destinations are subsidized under the Essential Air Service -- or EAS program. That's where the US Department of Transportation subsidizes the airlines to provide air service to not only Bemidji and International, but also Brainerd and Hibbing.

According to AirlineGeeks.com, the CRJ-550 has 50 seats -- 10 of them in first class and 40 in economy -- both in Comfort+ seating with extra legroom and economy seating. The website says the CRJ-550 has the same airframe as the CRJ-700 Delta also uses in its network, but it's reconfigured for just 50 seats.

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The Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal notes the new jets servicing Bemidji and International Falls mean three things for passengers -- "more legroom, more storage and (for first-class passengers) a walkup snack bar."

Delta provides two daily flights between the Twin Cities and Bemidji and 13 flights each week between Minneapolis and International Falls on the Canadian border.

The MSP-BJI flight length is around 1-hour-10-minutes. MSP-INL is around 1-hour-20-minutes.

H/T -- Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal (paywall)