The U.S. Department of Transportation granted waivers to Delta and US Airways to proceed with their long-awaited slot swap transaction at New York LaGuardia and Washington National airports, but the Justice Department will continue to investigate the deal's competitive impact.

While DOT finalized the key provisions of July’s tentative approval, DOJ plans to further review the competitive effect of US Airways' expansion in Washington. DOJ, however, claimed Delta's acquisition of new slots at LaGuardia "does not raise competitive concerns." DOJ added, "While the Antitrust Division works closely with DOT on airline issues, the two agencies act under substantially different statutory and regulatory frameworks." Delta and US Airways did not immediately comment on how they'll proceed.