I’m not sure why people are being so harsh on Kirby for this. He’s pretty much admitted in other outlets earlier that it was a mistake for Smisek and team to leave JFK. If he can’t buy slots at a reasonable price, this seems like a reasonable public relations strategy to try and retain slots.
The fact that the FAA removed the slot controls on EWR less than a year after the swap with DL shows just how stupid and clueless the old management team was. They should have had a better pulse on how the FAA viewed one of their most valuable hubs.