Delta in 'dogfight' to become NYC's dominant airline
By Ben Mutzabaugh, USA TODAY
From its rapid build-up at LaGuardia Airport to becoming "the official airline of Madison Square Garden," Delta Air Lines is going all out to win the New York market.
Delta, which already has developed a big international hub at New York's JFK airport, hopes that the 100 new nonstop flights and 26 new destinations it has added at LaGuardia will make it an even bigger overall player in the USA's most lucrative air travel market.
Reuters takes an in-depth look at Delta's efforts, writing that the carrier's "aggressive expansion positions it to woo business travelers from No. 1 United Continental Holdings, the dominant carrier at New Jersey's Newark airport, while also challenging bankrupt American Airlines and discounter JetBlue Airways, which are investing millions in their Big Apple hubs."
Delta's expansion at LaGuardia – enabled by a unique Washington-New York "slot swap" with US Airways – has made Delta the biggest carrier there. And, at JFK, Delta is in the midst of a $1.2 billion terminal upgrade at its second-biggest hub. Atlanta is its busiest.
"New York is a dogfight, and it's really the holy grail for many of the competitors out there," Chuck Imhof, Delta's managing director for New York sales, says to Reuters.
At LaGuardia, Delta – which gained most of US Airways' flight rights there – thinks it can make money where US Airways could not.
Reuters writes "Helane Becker, a New York-based airline analyst with Dahlman Rose & Co, says LaGuardia will prove more profitable for Delta than it was for US Airways because of the use of larger planes. Delta is using two-class regional jets that carry 70 passengers on many of its new flights, while US Airways had flown lots of smaller turboprops that seated 50 or fewer."
Delta claims it already is seeing an increase in high-fare business passengers on its LaGuardia flights.
By Ben Mutzabaugh, USA TODAY
From its rapid build-up at LaGuardia Airport to becoming "the official airline of Madison Square Garden," Delta Air Lines is going all out to win the New York market.
Delta, which already has developed a big international hub at New York's JFK airport, hopes that the 100 new nonstop flights and 26 new destinations it has added at LaGuardia will make it an even bigger overall player in the USA's most lucrative air travel market.
Reuters takes an in-depth look at Delta's efforts, writing that the carrier's "aggressive expansion positions it to woo business travelers from No. 1 United Continental Holdings, the dominant carrier at New Jersey's Newark airport, while also challenging bankrupt American Airlines and discounter JetBlue Airways, which are investing millions in their Big Apple hubs."
Delta's expansion at LaGuardia – enabled by a unique Washington-New York "slot swap" with US Airways – has made Delta the biggest carrier there. And, at JFK, Delta is in the midst of a $1.2 billion terminal upgrade at its second-biggest hub. Atlanta is its busiest.
"New York is a dogfight, and it's really the holy grail for many of the competitors out there," Chuck Imhof, Delta's managing director for New York sales, says to Reuters.
At LaGuardia, Delta – which gained most of US Airways' flight rights there – thinks it can make money where US Airways could not.
Reuters writes "Helane Becker, a New York-based airline analyst with Dahlman Rose & Co, says LaGuardia will prove more profitable for Delta than it was for US Airways because of the use of larger planes. Delta is using two-class regional jets that carry 70 passengers on many of its new flights, while US Airways had flown lots of smaller turboprops that seated 50 or fewer."
Delta claims it already is seeing an increase in high-fare business passengers on its LaGuardia flights.
