Some folks may have a new base, other folks are going to be shifting bases:
Delta Plans LaGuardia Expansion in Slot Swap
By Mary Jane Credeur and Mary Schlangenstein - May 23, 2011
Delta Air Lines Inc. (DAL) agreed to acquire takeoff and landing rights from US Airways Group Inc. (LCC) to expand at New York’s LaGuardia Airport in the nation’s busiest aviation market.
Delta will take over 132 pairs of LaGuardia takeoff and landing slots held by US Airways, which will get 42 pairs of slots at Washington’s Reagan airport in exchange, the two carriers said today in a statement. US Airways also will receive rights to fly to Sao Paulo and $66.5 million in cash.
The move would allow Atlanta-based Delta to boost its share in New York, where no airline has a dominant position, while US Airways focuses on growth in the nation’s capital. Today’s accord replaces one that Delta and Tempe, Arizona-based US Airways unveiled in 2009, only to have regulators balk.
“With this agreement, Delta will enhance competition in New York, which is already one of the most competitive aviation markets in the world, by expanding the passenger capacity at LaGuardia by as many as 4 million seats annually without increasing congestion,” Delta Chief Executive Officer Richard Anderson said in the statement.
To contact the reporters on this story: Mary Jane Credeur in Atlanta at mcredeur@bloomberg.net; Mary Schlangenstein in Dallas at maryc.s@bloomberg.net;
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Ed Dufner at edufner@bloomberg.net.