Says Plan As Presented Will Have Negative Impacts On Consumers

Delta Air Lines and US Airways issued a statement Tuesday in response to the U.S. DOT’s proposed rulemaking on the airlines’ previously announced slot swap at New York’s LaGuardia and Washington’s Reagan-National airports. The companies say the proposed rules would negatively impact non-stop service to many cities served by both airlines.

In its decision, DOT said it would require the airlines to divest 20 of the 125 slot pairs involved at New York-LaGuardia and 14 of the 42 slot pairs at Washington-National.

“Delta and US Airways are disappointed in the DOT’s decision that, if implemented, would negatively impact the consumer and economic benefits created by the proposed transaction by divesting 16 percent of the transaction at New York’s LaGuardia Airport and 33 percent of the transaction at Washington-National," the airlines said. "Chief among those benefits is the ability for both airlines to maintain and add new nonstop service between two of America’s top business markets and small- and medium-sized communities across the United States."

“Our goal remains to increase access for customers in small communities to LaGuardia and Washington-Reagan National airports," the statement continues. "We appreciate the thousands of employees, customers and elected and community leaders who have voiced their support for our transaction. However, we expect that if this order is implemented as proposed the transaction will not go forward and significant consumer benefits will never be realized. Both airlines will review the DOT’s proposed rulemaking to determine our next steps.”

FMI: www.delta.com, www.usairways.com, www.dot.gov