LaGuardia Auction Urged by JetBlue in Delta, US Airways Swap
JetBlue Airways Corp. (JBLU) urged federal regulators to auction flight slots at New York’s LaGuardia and Washington’s Reagan airports that will be shed by Delta Air Lines Inc. (DAL) and US Airways Group Inc. (LCC) to boost competition.
Delta and US Airways shouldn’t have a say in which airlines receive the takeoff and landing slots, New York-based JetBlue said in a filing yesterday with the U.S. Transportation Department and Federal Aviation Administration. Bidders should be limited to low-cost carriers with little or no existing service at the two airports, JetBlue said.
The proposed slot swap between the carriers would give Delta a dominant position at LaGuardia and a hub for domestic flights, and allow US Airways to shed unprofitable flying in New York for routes linked to Washington. The plan is awaiting approval by federal regulators.
“A divestiture process limited to carriers that have a limited presence at the relevant slot-constrained airports will ensure the greatest benefit to competition and ultimately the traveling public,” JetBlue said.
JetBlue’s stance is a change from an earlier version of the slot-swap plan, in which the carrier would have been one of four selected by Delta and US Airways to receive surrendered slots. That plan was rejected by regulators, and Delta and US Airways proposed a new version in May.
Flight Slot Exchange
Under the new plan, Atlanta-based Delta would take over 132 pairs of LaGuardia flight slots now held by US Airways, which would get 42 pairs in exchange at Reagan. US Airways, based in Tempe, Arizona, also would receive $66.5 million in cash and rights to fly to Sao Paulo.
The airlines said they would shed 16 LaGuardia slot pairs and eight at Ronald Reagan Washington National to help win regulatory approval.
“We will evaluate the opportunity to bid on slots at LaGuardia and Reagan should they become available,” Bryan Baldwin, a spokesman for JetBlue, said today in an e-mail.
The revised plan doesn’t specify how the divested slots should be reallocated, said Trebor Banstetter, a spokesman for Delta, and Todd Lehmacher, a spokesman for US Airways.
“We don’t really endorse one method over another,” Banstetter said in an interview. “It would be up to the DOT.”
JetBlue has its largest operations at New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport. The New York region lacks a dominant carrier, with air traffic spread among LaGuardia, Kennedy and New Jersey’s Newark airport.
JetBlue rose 14 cents, or 2.5 percent, to $5.76 at 4 p.m. New York time in Nasdaq Stock Market trading. Delta climbed 7 cents to $9.40 in New York Stock Exchange composite trading, while US Airways was unchanged at $8.23.
To contact the reporter on this story: Mary Schlangenstein in Dallas at maryc.s@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Ed Dufner at edufner@bloomberg.net
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