Delta is adding flights from State College to New York, but is ending one service
The new year will bring a new direction for Delta Air Lines’ service from State College.
As of Jan. 9, Delta will begin flying between University Park Airport and New York’s LaGuardia Airport. At the same time, the airline will end service between State College and Detroit.
The airline will fly twice daily to LaGuardia (once on Saturdays); Delta now flies once daily to Detroit. University Park Airport Director Bryan Rodgers confirmed the change will increase the airline’s local seat capacity. The New York flights will operate on 76-seat CRJ-900 regional jets, while the Detroit flights generally used 50-seat aircraft but would upgrade to larger regional aircraft to meet demands during busy times. Delta’s schedule shows the airline is flying the 69-seat CRJ-700 between State College and Detroit this month.
“As we continue to monitor and adjust our schedules based on demand and to best meet the needs of our customers, early next year, Delta’s service from State College will be repositioning from Detroit to New York-LaGuardia Airport,” the airline said in a statement. “As part of this shift, we are excited to offer increased frequency of service on the route, operated on larger aircraft, for additional options on how and when our customers want to travel.”
Travel website The Points Guy, which reported Monday on the schedule change, said Delta will also begin flights in January from Binghamton, New York, to LaGuardia and from Ithaca, New York, to John F. Kennedy International Airport. The airline will end service to Detroit from both markets.
These flights are part of Delta’s recent push to add connections in New York, which may be part of the airline’s strategy to maintain its presence in the market, The Points Guy said. At crowded airports such as LaGuardia and JFK, airlines must receive Federal Aviation Administration permission for each takeoff or landing. These permissions are known as slots, and they are distributed throughout the day to try to limit flight congestion and delays.
Airlines that don’t fill all of their slots run the risk of losing them to another airline, and some industry analysts say that Delta is adding shorter, connecting routes just so they can hold onto their slots — a practice referred to as slot squatting.
Early in the pandemic, the FAA waived slot usage rules, but those exemptions are no longer in effect, The Points Guy said.
“With all the increased regional connectivity from New York, Delta seems to be actively monitoring its slot usage to ensure that it maintains its dominance as New York’s largest airline,” Zach Griff wrote for the site.
It’s also possible, Griff wrote, that Delta is shifting its strategy in New York from focusing on nonstop travel to valuing connecting flyers. United does a good job of that at Newark Liberty International Airport, he wrote, where the airline runs a hub with many direct flights for locals as well as a solid network of connecting, regional flights.
Delta operates out of the new Terminal C at LaGuardia, which opened in June after a $4 billion modernization project.
This marks the second time in less than a year that an airline has opened direct service from State College to the New York City area. In March, United began flights to Newark.
