US Airways expands at Washington National Airport

— -- US Airways on Tuesday unveiled plans to expand its presence at Reagan National Airport, adding new daily non-stop flights from Washington to 14 cities

The new service, which begins March 25, adds 24 daily departures from National. Eight of the new destinations have no direct flights to Washington from any carriers right now.

The expansion is the result of U.S. Airways' swap of takeoff and landing slots with Delta Air Lines at New York's LaGuardia Airport. Last month, Delta announced 100 new flights to 29 new destinations from LaGuardia, now a domestic hub.

The swap of slots, which was two years in the making and required federal regulators' approval, comes as U.S. airlines increasingly merge and consolidate their operations in a bid to be more profitable. With the move, US Airways will concentrate on its core service areas of Washington, Philadelphia, Phoenix and Charlotte. Delta, meanwhile, will try to dominate the New York marketplace.

"For Delta, it really cements their position on the east side of the Hudson River," says Robert Mann, an airline industry analyst and president of R.W. Mann & Co. "In the case of dominance in the Washington market, US Airways, which is already strong, is now just stronger."

By summer, Delta expects to operate 264 daily flights between LaGuardia and more than 60 cities, surpassing other carriers.

Delta also will have more than 400 daily domestic departures from the three New York-area airports: LaGuardia, JFK and Newark. That's also more than any other carrier.

As Delta expands at LaGuardia, US Airways will begin phasing out flights from there to all but six cities: Washington, Boston, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Phoenix and Charlotte.

US Airways will remain the third-largest carrier at LaGuardia, with 65 daily weekday flights. It also plans to build a 3,500-square-foot US Airways Club there in the spring, despite the reduced service.

Next month, US Airways plans to announce more new routes from National, set to begin July 11. When the expansion is completed, the airline will have more than 230 daily flights from National, up from 175.

The airline also will add more gates at National, build a second US Airways Club and hire about 125 airport employees.

"We are excited to expand our service to customers traveling to and from our nation's capital as well as increase jobs at Washington National Airport," US Airways CEO Doug Parker says.

The new routes include non-stop daily flights to Birmingham, Ala.; Fayetteville, N.C.; Islip, N.Y.; Little Rock; Jacksonville, N.C.; and Pensacola, Tallahassee and Fort Walton Beach, Fla. Those communities have no service to National now.

New flights will also go to Memphis, Omaha and Ottawa. Other carriers already offer flights to those airports.

Daily flights will be added to Bangor, Maine, and Savannah, Ga., which already have weekend flights from US Airways. A daily non-stop flight will go to Hartford, Conn.

US Airways acquired 42 "slot pairs" from Delta at National, while Delta got 132 pairs from US Airways at LaGuardia.

A slot pair gives an airline rights for one round-trip flight at the airport.

The transaction was approved by the Department of Transportation in October and finalized Dec. 13.