Delta Air Lines plans to add six daily nonstop flights between Dallas/Fort Worth Airport and New York LaGuardia Airport early next year, one of several moves that will mean stiffer competition for American Airlines as it tries to reorganize in bankruptcy court.
The move is part of an expansion for Delta in New York, where it plans to add more than 100 flights a day at LaGuardia and flights on some key routes from John F. Kennedy International Airport, including nonstops to Los Angeles and San Francisco.The six added nonstop flights, which follow a recently approved slot swap between Delta and US Airways, will allow Atlanta-based Delta to pose a stronger competitive threat to American in the lucrative New York market.Industry analysts have cited a loss of market share and premium revenue from business travelers in and out of New York, where American serves LaGuardia and has a hub at JFK, as one factor that led to the decline in American's fortunes and to its parent's eventual filing for Chapter 11 on Nov. 29."The route swap between US Airways and Delta is a huge negative for American," said Bob Herbst, airline business analyst and publisher of the AirlineFinancials.com website.Delta competed head to head with American at DFW Airport before closing its hub in 2004. The airline still operates more than 40 flights a day, depending upon the season, from DFW to Delta hubs in Atlanta, Salt Lake City, Cincinnati and more recently former Northwest hubs in Minneapolis, Memphis and Detroit. Delta also operates one nonstop daily between DFW and JFK.Delta will begin its DFW-LaGuardia service March 25, and consumers can reserve and buy tickets online beginning today. The flights will be on 70-seat Embraer 170 regional jets, which Delta operates in two classes with six first-class seats.Adding the nonstop is part of a strategy to build LaGuardia into a major hub for Delta, spokesman Eric Torbenson said. "If you want to have a hub in the biggest business city in the world, you've got to fly to Dallas."By summer, Delta plans to operate 264 daily flights out of LaGuardia, the city's major airport for business travel, to more than 60 cities. That's an increase of 29 destinations. Delta is already the leading carrier at LaGuardia, trailed by American, and the second-biggest carrier out of JFK behind JetBlue.American said it is prepared to deal with the competition. "American has served New York for more than 80 years," spokesman Tim Smith said. "We've competed vigorously since Day One, and that is still our intent today."Herbst said US Airways, as a result of slots at Washington, D.C.'s Reagan National Airport that it obtained from Delta, will also pose far stiffer competition for American in Washington-Baltimore.Bob Cox, 817-390-7723Twitter: @bobcoxictHave more to add? News tip? Tell us
