Yea, when I 1st heard of this "slot swap" my thought was .. "Excuse me ??? "
I don't exactly agree with the concept of slot controlled airports in a "free market" country ... when said country can't upgrade the 1950's technology to support today's free market ... but that's another topic. Given the fact that some airports are slot controlled....
The slots were originally awarded by DOT to help "spread the wealth". Yes the spread is biased. Alaska Air only gets a few cuz ... well ... they're way out in Washington & Oregon. The eastern seaboard airlines had more slots; they were willing to serve more cities from the "slotted" airport. But still, the DOT prevented any one airline from having too many of the coveted slots.
And now DL & US think they can just trade slots, each gaining the very concentration that DOT wanted to avoid !! Excuse Me ???
And some folks think this is valid thinking ?
If DL or US (or any airline) wants to increase competition in the northeast by providing additional hubs vs the traditional EWR/PHL/BWI/whatever, then
they are certainly able to do so without controlling the limited number slots at controlled airports.
In fact, US had such a thing and threw it away. It's called PIT.
In fact, DL has such a thing, but they are starting to throw it away. It's called CVG.
I can't believe I'm siding with the Government on something
Steve