The US Department of Transportation on July 21, 2011 gave a preliminary approval to the slot swap proposal submitted by Delta Air Lines and US Airways for New York’s LaGuardia Airport (LGA) and Washington’s Reagan National Airport (DCA).
As expected, DOT approved the proposal with minor changes.
One condition is to divest the slots in a blind sale to airlines that currently have little or no service at these airports. Note the term blind sale. The proposal from the airlines did not mention blind sale, so it is not clear whether this is an additional condition. Originally Delta and US Airways preferred the slots to be divested to airlines of their choice, but Southwest objected it by requesting DOT to divest these slots in an open auction. But, I think, this should not be a problem because the number of slots to be divested by Delta and US are minimal (eight slot pairs at Reagan National and 16 slot pairs at LaGuardia) compared to what they gain if the proposal is approved (US Airways would gain 42 slot pairs at Reagan National in exchange for swapping 132 slot pairs at LaGuardia with Delta).
The other condition for Delta and US Airways is to wait for 90 days before starting their new operations using this slot pairs so that the new services by other airlines can establish in these airports. This too, should not be a problem.
Both Delta and US Airways seem to be happy with these conditions.
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