Delta, US Airways announce new agreement to transfer flying rights

Delta Air Lines and US Airways announced a new agreement to transfer takeoff and landing rights at New York’s LaGuardia and Washington D.C.’s Reagan National airports. The agreement, filed on May 23rd with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), revises a 2009 transaction agreed between Delta and US Airways and approved by the DOT, but under terms not acceptable to the carriers, and never completed. The new agreement enables Delta and US Airways to expand service and increase competition at two of the nation’s key cities, and provides the opportunity for additional access to LaGuardia and Reagan National for new entrants and airlines with a limited presence at the airports.Under the agreement, Delta would acquire 132 slot pairs at LaGuardia from US Airways and US Airways would acquire from Delta 42 slot pairs at Reagan National and the rights to operate additional daily service to Sao Paulo, Brazil in 2015, and Delta would pay US Airways $66.5 million in cash. In addition, the transaction could result in the divestiture of up to 16 slot pairs at LaGuardia and eight slot pairs at Reagan National to airlines with limited or no service at those airports. The completion of the transaction is subject to certain closing conditions, including government and regulatory approvals. A slot pair is the authority to operate one takeoff and one landing.