Delta, US Airways To Appeal DOT Slot Decision

Delta Air Lines and US Airways said they would fight in the U.S. Court of Appeals the U.S. Transportation Department's slot divestiture requirements in the final approval of their slot swap transaction at New York's LaGuardia and Washington's National airports.

The carriers in a joint statement argued their proposed transaction would add flights, create jobs, maintain or add service to small communities and preserve competition.

The carriers last August announced their original plan for Delta to swap with US Airways 42 slot pairs at National in exchange for 125 slot pairs at LaGuardia. The carriers in March revised that deal in an attempt to appease an unfavorable determination by DOT through which Delta agreed to gain only 110 slot pairs at LaGuardia and give up five slot pairs apiece to AirTran, Spirit and WestJet. US Airways, meanwhile, agreed to take only 37 slot pairs at National, deferring the remaining five slot pairs to JetBlue.

Those concessions, however, did not adhere to DOT requirements outlined in February's tentative approval and reasserted in yesterday's final approval. If the carriers want to pursue the slot swap, DOT ordered, they would have to divest the 20 LaGuardia and 14 National slot pairs "in bundles large enough to ensure that a purchaser would have a sufficient number of slots to provide meaningful new competition."

“Upon review of the just-issued order, we believe the DOT and FAA's decision is inexplicable and has clearly exceeded their statutory authority," the carriers said in a joint statement. "We intend to appeal this ruling to the U.S. Court of Appeals.”