Delta Drops 2 Flight Slots at Long Beach Airport; Southwest Picks Up Another 3

May 19, 2023

May 18—Delta Airlines has given up two of its flight slots at the Long Beach Airport, according to a recent city memo, while Southwest Airlines has picked up another three — further solidifying its status as LGB's most dominant carrier.

Before the decision to relinquish two pf its slots, Delta held a total of seven, according to a city memo from earlier this week. Delta will keep the remaining five for now, and LGB officials will begin the process for reallocating the other two.

It's unclear why Delta opted for the change. Airline officials did not respond to a request for comment on Wednesday, May 17. Delta currently only provides service to from Long Beach to Salt Lake City, according to LGB's website.

Other carriers, though, such as American Airlines — which recently ceased all operations out of Long Beach — have cited poor financial performance of their routes as the reason for reducing their presence at LGB.

When American terminated all of its flights out of LGB in January, it freed up three more flight slots for reallocation. Those have been given to Southwest, the city memo said, as it was the only carrier on the waitlist to request the additional slots.

Southwest received another five flight slots in February, which they used to add service routes to Albuquerque, New Mexico, Colorado Springs, Colorado, and El Paso, Texas.

As it stands, Southwest currently holds 48 flight slots at LGB — out of 58 total permanent and supplemental ones available. The other 10 are split among Delta, Hawaiian Airlines and the United Parcel Service.

The two additional slots that Delta previously held, meanwhile, will be reallocated through the airport's standard process. Swoop, Breeze Airways and Hawaiian are among the airlines on LGB's waitlist for additional slots, the Monday, May 15, memo said — as is Southwest.

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