Delta and US Airways propose another swap of flying rights in New York and Washington

NEW YORK, N.Y. - US Airways Group Inc. and Delta Air Lines Inc. are again asking regulators to allow them to swap takeoff and landing rights for dozens of flights in New York and Washington.

The deal announced Monday calls for Delta to give US Airways 42 slot pairs at Reagan National Airport in Washington, $66.5 million in cash, and the right to add another daily flight to Sao Paulo, Brazil, in 2015.

In exchange, Delta would get 132 slot pairs at LaGuardia airport in New York. Each slot pair is the right for one takeoff and one landing.

The swap would remake the competitive landscape in two of America's most competitive air markets. But their attempt for a similar deal fell apart last year after the Transportation Department imposed restrictions that the airlines said were too onerous.

The airlines are offering to give up eight slot pairs at Reagan and 16 at LaGuardia. That's still less than what the Transportation Department said it wanted last year: 14 at Reagan and 20 at LaGuardia.

US Airways has been shifting its flying to cities that connect to Washington and its hubs in Philadelphia, Charlotte, North Carolina, and Phoenix.

The deal doesn't mean that Delta would pull out of Reagan National airport, or that US Airways would drop flying to LaGuardia. And US Airways says it will continue to fly its shuttle from Boston to New York and Washington, and Delta will keep flying its hourly shuttle between New York and Washington.

In Washington, US Airways said it would add 15 new destinations. That would give it 230 departures from Reagan on its busiest days, 20 per cent more than it has now.