Originally Posted by
WWads
Any idea when DL can drop the PHL route? IIRC, DOT is requiring them to maintain it for a certain amount of time.
From the EU's
approval of the AA-US merger:
As a general rule, the Slots obtained by a prospective entrant under the final Commitments must be used to provide a non-stop scheduled passenger air transport service operated on the London Heathrow – Philadelphia airport pair and cannot be used on another city pair unless the prospective entrant has operated such service during the Utilization Period (six consecutive IATA seasons)114. Once the Utilization Period has elapsed, the prospective entrant will be entitled to use the Slots on any city pair ("grandfathering").
So DL has to operate PHL-LHR for six IATA seasons (is that three years?) if they want to keep the slot. It looks like they started in April 2015, so I think that means until sometime in early 2018.