PTI may lose 7 nonstops to N.Y.

Change would involve swapping of flight slots

By: Richard Craver | JOURNAL REPORTER
Published: February 10, 2010

A U.S. Transportation Department decision issued yesterday could cost Piedmont Triad International Airport up to seven nonstop flights to New York City.

However, a twist in the approval of the flight-slot swap between US Airways Group Inc. and Delta Air Lines may lead Delta or another airline to begin service on PTI's third-most popular route.

The airlines announced last August that they wanted permission to swap takeoff and landing slots at airports in New York and at Reagan National Airport in Washington. Delta would exchange 42 of its slots at Reagan for 125 of US Airways' slots at LaGuardia, which included the seven at PTI. The elimination of the seven LaGuardia flights would leave PTI with 53 nonstop flights.

If the US Airways slots are eliminated, Triad residents still would have nonstop service to the New York area through four daily flights on Continental Airlines to Newark, N.J.

The department said its approval is dependent "on the requirement that the airlines sell some of their slot interests to carriers with no or limited service at the two airports."

The airlines said in a joint statement that they disagree with the requirement, which means that Delta would have to sell 20 of its LaGuardia slots and US Airways would have to sell 14 of its Reagan slots.

The department said that the goal of the requirement is "lessening the harm to consumers that might otherwise result from the applicants' increased dominance" at LaGuardia and Reagan. The department said it will conduct a 30-day public-comment period before issuing a final decision.

The airlines said that their agreement would "maintain and add new nonstop service between two of America's top business markets and small- and medium-sized communities across the United States."

"We expect that if this order is implemented as proposed, the transaction will not go forward, and significant consumer benefits will never be realized. Both airlines will review the department's proposed rulemaking to determine our next steps."

Henry Issacson, the chairman of the Piedmont Triad Airport Authority, said he feels confident that one or more airlines "would fill whatever gap or void this decision creates."

rcraver@wsjournal.com

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