Aviation Daily
Delta, US Air Go After Each Other's Top Hubs
By Steven Lott
10/08/2004 08:42:35 AM
If battling low-cost carriers did not put enough pressure on US Airways and Delta, the two network airlines yesterday each announced plans to launch new service to the other's chief hub.
Delta unveiled plans to start three daily flights from New York LaGuardia (LGA) to US Airways' Charlotte hub on Dec. 1. On Jan. 31, Comair will launch one daily flight from New York Kennedy to Charlotte. Both routes will be operated with 50-seat CRJs flown by Comair. The airline claims the service is part of Delta's overall plan to add point-to-point Connection flights to key cities from New York. US Airways offers nine daily flights from LGA to Charlotte on weekdays.
Only hours after Delta's announcement, US Airways said it would launch four daily nonstop flights between Washington National (DCA) and Delta's Atlanta hub this winter. The service will start Feb. 6 and will be operated by MidAtlantic with its new 72-seat Embraer 170s and an introductory $98 roundtrip fare. Even though there is plenty of capacity between the cities, US Airways said the flight "fits well into our transformation plan to leverage our strengths on the East Coast."
Delta offers 17 daily flights on the DCA-Atlanta route on weekdays, in addition to AirTran's four daily flights. According to data from Seabury Airline Planning Group, 18,437 weekly nonstop seats are available between the airports. There is even more service from Washington Dulles to Atlanta, where Delta has 15 flights every weekday, AirTran four, United six and Independence Air as many as 16.