Delta to offer lie-flat seats on new Washington National-LAX route

Delta Air Lines will launch a new cross-country route from Washington’s Reagan National Airport (DCA), where flight schedules are capacity controlled and restricted by distance.

Delta will begin flying from DCA to Los Angeles on April 24, offering one daily round-trip flight on Boeing 757-200 aircraft that include lie-flat seats in first class.

Swanky lie-flat seats have become one of the latest competition flashpoints among airlines on high-profile cross-country routes. However, Washington had not yet become a player in the domestic lie-flat market, with airlines focusing mostly on flights from New York to Los Angeles and San Francisco for sleeper seats. American, Delta, United and JetBlue all offer lie-flat options on those routes.

Several other cities have recently gotten in on the domestic lie-flat wars. JetBlue, which just introduced its “Mint” lie-flat seats in 2013, has been aggressively expanding that product on West Coast routes not only from New York, but also from Boston. The carrier has even added Mint to some transcontinental routes from Seattle, San Diego and Las Vegas and is now selling the seats on nonstop Fort Lauderdale routes from Los Angeles and San Francisco.

Elsewhere, some other domestic routes get occasional lie-flat options on various carriers, though those tend to be positioning flights between hubs and not a concerted effort to introduce that high-end product into those markets.

But, with Delta, the Washington market now appears to be joining the mix of cities being targeted for regular lie-flat service on domestic routes.

The new DCA route also comes as Delta has been building up its hub operation in Los Angeles. Rivals American and Alaska Airlines also offer nonstop service between DCA and Los Angeles, but neither has lie-flat seats on that route.

“We’re pleased that Delta’s growth and investment on the West Coast has created an opportunity to provide new direct service to and from Washington Reagan,” Ranjan Goswami, Delta’s VP – Sales, West Region, says in a statement. “As the only airline to offer full flat-bed seats between these markets, our customers will arrive rested and productive – and it’s that premium distinction in the customer experience that differentiates Delta.”

To add the new LAX route from DCA, Delta had to drop one of its two daily Salt Lake City flights from the slot-constrained airport. In addition to the capacity controls, most flights at DCA are subject to a “perimeter rule” that restricts flights from the airport to a distance of 1,250 miles or less.

Since 1999, however, Congress has cobbled together “beyond perimeter” exemptions that today allow a total of 20 round-trip flights to cities farther than 1,250 miles. That’s let airlines at DCA to add flights to the previously off-limits destinations of Austin, Denver, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Phoenix, Portland (Ore.), San Francisco, San Juan (Puerto Rico), Salt Lake City and Seattle.

Proposal to extend DCA's 'perimeter rule' withdrawn

Delta says it’s able to add the DCA-LAX route by shifting one of its two “beyond perimeter” slot pairs that it currently uses for Salt Lake City flights. On the same day that the LAX route begins, Delta says it will add a nonstop flight to Salt Lake City from Washington’s Dulles airport to help offset the reduced schedule from DCA.

“As a Delta hub, Salt Lake City is a critical part of Delta’s domestic and international network, connecting the Mountain West with service to all parts of the U.S. and beyond,” Andrea Newman, Delta’s SVP – Government Affairs, says.

Delta used the announcement of its DCA route adjustments to call for more long-distance exemptions at DCA, where the flight restrictions are regulated by the federal government. Located only about five miles from downtown, National is the most-popular D.C.-area airport for many travelers in the region.

“Delta’s preference would be to maintain two round-trip flights to Salt Lake City from DCA but is unable to do so without a change to federal statute,” Newman adds in Delta’s statement. “We believe that new ‘beyond-perimeter’ slots would help to create new jobs and economic growth through new business and tourism opportunities in addition to lowering ticket prices and benefitting consumers through increased competition.”

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