Delta Trims New York-Washington Capacity with Jet Aircraft

Delta Air Lines announced that it will downsize its Delta Shuttle service between LaGuardia  in New York and Reagan National in Washington, D.C. The route, currently serviced by the 142-seat Boeing MD-88s, will soon take flight on 76-seat Embraer. The switch will cut the capacity of the Delta Shuttle service in half.

The change will make US Airways the only airline still flying large jets on the New York-Washington route. Delta has been flying the New York-Washington and New York-Boston shuttle routes since acquiring the Pan Am Shuttle in 1991. Shuttle flights on the National-LaGuardia route will all be operated by Shuttle America, a Delta regional carrier, by the end of March.

The MD-88s still will be used on shuttle flights between New York and Boston. Delta also flies between New York and Washington with larger jets that aren’t part of the shuttle service.