The internal DAL memo says:

While more than 40 percent of US Airways’ current LaGuardia schedule is operated with small turboprops, Delta plans to use the same limited airport takeoff and landing rights to operate a schedule with all slots occupied by jet aircraft. This improved efficiency will not only increase the total capacity flown from LaGuardia, but also will result in service upgrades for customers in numerous small- and medium-sized communities throughout upstate New York and New England where Delta will operate larger regional and mainline jets.

Thanks..
 

Although I liked the press release better, I stand corrected. Thanks for enlighten my knowledge. Still good news though..:D

This sounds like good news to me!

puts the AE in perspective a bit does it not?

While I like the basic idea of the swap for the gates and slots, I really don't think mainline will increase all that much at LGA. It seems like they keep playing up the larger airplane angle to small and medium-sized cities in the NE. A smaller city like Rochester, Albany, or wherever isn't going to go from a Dash 8 today to an MD-88 tomorrow. The demand for that just isn't there to justify it. Sure we might see a couple of new mainline destinations, but personally I think you are going to see all the extra 50 seaters DCI has sitting around clogging up LGA even more. I hope I'm dead wrong, but I kinda doubt it :mad:

We need to temper our enthusiasm a little bit. Breaking down the words, Pinnacle was flying those 37? seat props around the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic so larger jets can equal 50/70 seat RJ's. Will mainline flying increase out of LGA, yes. But it may just be getting back about the number of flights we lost to RJ's last year with the DC Shuttle. But on a positive note any growth is good. Comair should be the most excited as they have the excess capacity to put on the routes. Who knows, maybe we will see a domestic 75 base in NYC eventually if we can wrestle some crumbs away from ATL. Now how long will it take to get gov't approval and will filling the new vacancies come in the Jan bid? The NYC plus-ups from this DB are just to absorb the 767 MD's.

Jetblue flies A320s to Burlington, Syracuse, Buffalo and Rochester from JFK - several times a day.

I can tell you, that a 50 seat RJ is no competition for a JetBlue Airbus - and I work for Delta!

Ponch, your dead right unfortunately. You said it a little more eloquently than myself. If one has ever non-reved on USAir out of LGA, all those cities are within 400 nm of NYC and those airplane sizes are about right. The airline mentality right now is to offer the consumer more choices in flight times and not just one or two flights a day on a mainline jet. All those 50 seaters parked in CVG will now be needed, unfortunately. But we will become number one in NYC. Americas largest city with the highest income per capita which is both a major business AND tourist destination.

Here's more conspiracy theory. Either a DC-9's base to NYC or better yet, we buy the 190's from USAir and put them on the routes as mainline.

I think your right about the 50 seaters, but as far as clogging I think it's actually going to run smoother. While props did an ok job on arrivals, they definitely clog departures.

With us running a majority of the operations out of LGA I'd think we'd also be able to better time arrivals/departures a la ATL.