Delta Air Lines will terminate an agreement as of May 3 with Mesa Air Group subsidiary Freedom Airlines, which operates 34 ERJ-145s on behalf of Delta Connection, for failing to meet an agreed-upon completion rate. "Delta has notified Freedom Airlines of its election to terminate its 50-seat Delta Connection contract because the operational performance of this flying has fallen below minimum levels required under the contract," DL said in a statement. "We expect the operational pulldown to be orderly and have minimal impact to our customers." The decision does not affect Freedom's CRJ900 flying for Delta Connection. Mesa contends that the completion rate in question is a direct result of Delta's decision to bump some Mesa operations in favor of mainline flights and denied there was just cause to terminate the agreements. "We believe the notice of termination is in violation of the contract," General Counsel Brian Gilman told ATWOnline yesterday. The decision to drop Freedom's ERJ service comes less than a month after DL's announcement that it will reduce capacity by 10% in the second half of 2008 and ground 20-25 regional jets, presumably the less-fuel-efficient 50-seaters (ATWOnline, Jan. 31). "We are confident that Delta's actions are not supported by the terms of the Connection Agreement, that we have complied with all of our obligations under that agreement and that Delta's effort to terminate the agreement will not be upheld in a court of law," Mesa Air Group Chairman and CEO Jonathan Ornstein said. by Sandra Arnoult