the carrier confirmed. Availability of the slots at the capacity-controlled
airport stems from the U.S. Department of Transportation's requirement that Delta Air
Lines and US Airways
divest eight daily slot pairs at Reagan Washington National and 16 slot pairs at LaGuardia as part of its approval of the carriers' slot-swap transaction. It was not immediately clear who secured the remaining
slots at auction. "We are very pleased with our successful bid,"
according to WestJet president and CEO Gregg Saretsky. "Our growth plans,
in which increased business travel in the East figures prominently, include New
York City, Canada's largest international business market." WestJet noted
it would "be working over the next several days to finalize the
transaction."