American could pick up Northeast shuttle if US Airways buys Delta

<p>Several airlines, including American, Northwest and United, may have an interest in picking up the gates that would be opened up at airports in Boston, New York and Washington if US Airways succeeds in its $8 billion bid for Delta Air Lines.</p><p>Passengers are unlikely to notice many changes beyond new logos on the airliners, and possibly slightly fewer flights.</p><p>US Airways Group Inc. CEO Doug Parker said the merged carrier would need to divest overlapping assets, most notably those serving the Northeast "shuttles" popular with business travelers.</p><p>Analysts said that to address regulators' antitrust concerns _ and meet a strategic goal of trimming flying capacity by 10 percent _ the combined company would also need to forfeit airport gates up and down the East Coast, in places such as Charlotte, N.C., Atlanta and across Florida.</p><p>Shares of airlines with a heavy East Coast presence, such as JetBlue Airways Corp. and AirTran Holdings Inc., soared after the acquisition was proposed, signaling Wall Street's expectations that reduced capacity in the region would make it easier to raise fares.</p><p>JetBlue's stock leaped $1.31, or 9.3 percent, to $15.40 on the Nasdaq Stock Market, while AirTran's gained $1.93, or 17.4 percent, to $13 on the New York Stock Exchange.</p><p>It is too soon to say whether the combined company would fly the existing shuttle operations of US Airways or Delta in the busy Northeast corridor, but as a practical matter it really doesn't matter, analysts said.</p><p>Spinning off one of the two carriers' shuttle services will be relatively easy, analysts said, since they already operate as somewhat separate entities from the mainline operations.</p><p>"The only questions are assigned seats or not, Airbus or Boeing. It's all the same," said Robert W. Mann, a Port Washington, N.Y.-based airline consultant. Frequent fliers of either airline's Northeast shuttle, including members of their rewards programs, are not likely to notice the difference, he said.</p><p>"At the end of the day, there may be a couple fewer frequencies and somebody else's brand," Mann said.</p><p>Daniel Kasper, an airline consultant at LECG in Cambridge, Mass., said AMR Corp.'s American Airlines is "leading the list" of potential suitors for the gates that would be freed up at airports such as Boston's Logan, New York's LaGuardia and Washington's National.</p><p>Because American already has a budding regional jet service in the Northeast, any move for the assets freed up by a potential combination of US Airways and Delta could then require American to divest some airport gates in the region. "There may be a domino effect if they were to come in," Kasper said.</p><p>The next most likely bidders, in order of interest, would be Northwest Airlines Corp. and UAL Corp.'s United, Kasper said. Continental Airlines Co., which has a big hub at Newark International airport, is not likely to be interested in the shuttle gates that would open up, he said.</p><p>Mann said any reduction of air service in the busy Northeast corridor could also open up a strategic opportunity for Amtrak to pick up more rail customers.</p><p>Spokespersons at American, Northwest and United declined to comment for this story.</p>

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