ATLANTA --- The sudden flurry of airlines swapping takeoff and landing slots at Washington and New York area airports continued Wednesday, with Delta and US Airways striking a deal similar to one between AirTran and Continental disclosed the day before.
The carriers will get more bang for the buck in congested areas where slot access is limited and where they face increased competition from Southwest Airlines.
They also will be able to serve destinations where they believe they can be more profitable than routes where they are cutting service, all at a time when weak demand for air travel has shed billions of dollars in revenue.
Airline consultant Darryl Jenkins said the deals appear to be good for the airlines involved. He noted that new slots at the airports involved are hard to come by.
The deals are subject to government approval, and the Department of Transportation is expected to scrutinize the swaps.
A slot is an interval of time during which an airline can take off or land its aircraft at an airport. A pair refers to cities airlines fly between. Slots, especially at peak times of day and in busy corridors like the Northeast, are valuable to airlines.
Tempe, Ariz.-based US Airways Group Inc. has agreed to transfer 125 operating slot pairs to Delta at LaGuardia Airport in New York. In exchange, Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines Inc. has agreed to transfer 42 operating slot pairs to US Airways at Reagan National Airport in Washington.
The transition will add 11 gates to Delta's LaGuardia operations. At the Washington airport, Delta expects to cut daily departures from 89 to 55, a spokesman said.
US Airways will expand service at the Washington airport, and obtain from Delta access to slots at airports in Tokyo and Sao Paulo, Brazil. The carrier plans to reduce flights at LaGuardia.
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Makes since, helps us all, works for both businesses so of course the government will need to get involved and mess it all up somehow through their scrutiny.