Long Road from Atlanta

On Thursday Delta announced major cutbacks in flights from Atlanta and Cincinnati, including suspension of the Atlanta-to-Seoul and the coveted Atlanta-to-Shanghai direct flights.

Here are the details on the Atlanta international flight cuts (thanks to Flyer Talk):

• Atlanta-Seoul: indefinite suspension after Aug. 30

• Atlanta-Shanghai: indefinite suspension after Sept. 1

• Atlanta-Stockholm: seasonal suspension Sept. to March

• Atlanta-Prague: seasonal suspension October to March

• Atlanta-Moscow: seasonal suspension October to March

• Atlanta-Guayaquil, Ecuador: seasonal suspension mid-September to mid-December

• Atlanta-Nairobi, Kenya: suspended pending TSA approval

• Atlanta-Mumbai, India: moves to New York-JFK in October

Friday Fillers

Businessweek.com has an excellent slide show online that accompanies their recent feature on Wal-Mart under the leadership of new CEO Michael Duke. This is a great thumbnail history of Wal-Mart and its ascension.

Mathews Asia has uploaded the audio and Power Point slides from their recent round table on China’s Role in the Global Economy. This hour-long exchange is led by Jodi Borkowitz and offers some great insights into China's future. The Mathews team presents for the first twenty minutes of the event and the balance of the session is Q&A.

Swine Flu Chart from Economist.com

(click to enlarge)

THE World Health Organisation raised the threat level for swine flu on Thursday June 11th to pandemic status, the highest possible. It is the first influenza pandemic since 1968, when Hong Kong flu killed 1m people. Almost 28,000 cases of swine flu and 141 deaths have been confirmed in 74 countries since the A(H1N1) virus was first identified in Mexico in late March. In Australia alone, the number of people infected has jumped from around 500 to 1,200 in one week. However, in a new paper published in Nature on Thursday, researchers suggest that the strain had probably been in existence for months before it was isolated, highlighting the need for good surveillance.