
Delta Air Lines today announced that it would
double its presence at New York LaGuardia by trading assets with US Airways. Delta will take over the current US Airways Terminal and
connect the two facilities, while US Airways will move into the Marine Air Terminal, originally operated by Pan Am and today primarily by Delta Shuttle. The move will increase Delta's presence from 16 to 27 gates and 148 to 272 daily flights.
In exchange, US Airways will receive 42 slots from Delta at Washington Reagan, forcing Delta to reduce service from 89 to 55 daily flights. US Airways will also receive route authorities from Delta to serve Sao Paulo Guarulhos and Tokyo Narita.
Delta will serve over 30 destinations from LaGuardia, although a list of new services has not been announced. US Airways meanwhile
announced service to 15 new destinations from Reagan, including four served by Delta or Northwest today: Cincinnati, Des Moines, Grand Rapids, and Madison.
Over the last decade, Delta has been boosting its New York presence, primarily at JFK, while US Airways has been reducing its service from LaGuardia, but maintaining its leading position at Washington Reagan. The deal will require government approval. The day before, Continental Airlines
reached a smaller deal with AirTran Airways in which AirTran would cease service at Newark and give its gate and its 10 slots to Continental in exchange for four slots at LaGuardia and six slots at Reagan.
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