Originally Posted by
NYC Flyer
US had a very extensive operation at LGA predating the HP merger. Poor service, sub-optimal equipment and focus on other markets ultimately led to a deterioration in the value of the slots to US. With a hub at JFK, the Shuttle, and historical strength to Florida ex-LGA, DL was well positioned to make the assets at LGA much more productive by creating a single option for NYC point of sale travelers (albeit split at two airports). DL's customer base supports flights from LGA to markets US would never have been able to fill. PMAA could have arguably leveraged the assets given its sizeable JFK operation and historical strength in the NYC market, but lacked the vision and/or currency to get the slots from US.
And especially the fact that US and DL swapped 42 DCA slot pairs for 132 LGA slot pairs (which I think US was largely using for turboprop flights around NY and the neighboring states), and then US/AA had to give up the extra DCA slot pairs in the merger. So ultimately US gave DL 132 LGA slot pairs for a player to be named later who never got out of the minors.
AA (pre- or post-merger) would have been able to make much better use of those slot pairs than US, I think pretty much everyone agrees.