Who Will Get DCA Slots For Beyond?

[Piedmont4US]

I will not be suprised if AA gets a couple of the slots because they have enourmous lobbying power. Here's my guess...

AA (LAX) - 2
HP (LAX) - 1
UA (SFO) - 1
AQ (SNA) - 1
F9 (DEN) - 1

I do hope that HP/AQ/AS/F9 can benefit from this, however. The others already have too much influence on the DC markets.

I hope they don't. The only carriers that I wouldn't mind getting slots would be AA, UA, and of course U.

That's all fine and good. I hope that you can afford the fares on those transcons with no competition (AA/UA/U would only compete against their own connecting flights to/from DCA.) DC is one of the least diverse cities b/c of the lock that these three have on it.

The average price for a DCA-SFO route now (with connections in ATL or ORD) is $314. We are talking FL and AA here.

 

[Ch. 12]

Compare that to $202 from JFK to SFO. Looks like limited competition out of DCA can increase the fares 50%. That's quite significant. And what do you mean by "We are talking FL and AA here"? True...FL is low fare, but AA??

I still say that if other carriers are not allowed to be introduced or expand in the DC area, the fares will continue to be high. Good for AA/UA, bad for the consumers and the industry in the long run.

 

[whlinder]

AQ-SNA - 1
F9-DEN - 1
AS-LAX - 2
HP- SFO -1
HP-LAX - 1

 

[Cosmo]

I'll be somewhat of a contrarian --

F9 DEN - 1
UA DEN - 1
AS SEA - 1
DL SLC - 1
UA SFO - 1
AA LAX - 1

I know this is weighted heavily towards the big guys like AA/DL/UA. But don't discount the impact of politics on this decision (all those Republicans in the Rocky Mountain states) as well as the logic of serving the major California cities with the carriers that can actually offer a significant number of online connections (one of the requirements of the legislation authorizing these additional slots at DCA).