CINCINNATI – Delta Air Lines Inc. subsidiary Comair will reduce its fleet by more than half and cut staffing during the next two years to become more competitive, the regional airline said Wednesday.

Comair President John Bendoraitis told employees in a memo Wednesday morning that the regional airline, based in Erlanger, Ky., will accelerate the reduction of its aging, less-efficient 50-seat jets while retaining its larger 65-seat and 76-seat jets.

The airline currently has 97 planes. It plans to become a 44-aircraft operation by the end of 2012 and will reduce staff accordingly, Bendoraitis said.

Comair plans to reduce its fleet of 50-seat jets from 65 at the end of this year to 16 by the end of 2012. The rest of its fleet will be 28 planes with 65 to 76 seats.

Reducing the fleet is expected to save Comair about $110 million during the next four years, Bendoraitis said.

He said Comair’s current cost structure remains about 20 percent higher than its peers on a cost-per-hour basis, and that “does not allow us to be competitive in the current industry environment.”

The memo also said Comair officials will be working with the unions representing its pilots, flight attendants and mechanics in the coming weeks to secure new agreements with those groups.

Comair has about 2,500 employees and operates more than 400 flights a day to about 70 cities in the U.S., Canada and the Bahamas.