DOT grants ASA new DCA frequencies, rejects LCC argument = Dateline: Tuesday December 07, 2004 = In an action that has potential implications for AirTran Airways' bid to = purchase slot exemptions at New York LaGuardia and Reagan Washington Nati= onal airports from bankrupt ATA Airlines, the US Dept. of Transportation = yesterday awarded two daily slot exemptions to Delta Air Lines subsidiary= ASA to serve Jackson, Miss. = The exemptions were made available when AirTran ended service between Wes= t Palm Beach and DCA in July, DOT said. In rewarding the exemptions from = the slot rules to ASA, DOT noted that they were created by federal legisl= ation passed in 2000 "to promote airline competition and enhance air serv= ice." ATA's slot exemptions at DCA and LGA were issued under the same aut= hority. DOT rejected requests for the slots from Florida-based low-cost carrier S= pirit Airlines for service to leisure destinations in Florida and from No= rthwest Airlines for flights to Des Moines, stating that "Northwest alrea= dy holds a large number of slots at the airport that it leases to other c= arriers" while Spirit=92s proposal met fewer of the criteria of the 2000 = legislation. Last week, JetBlue CEO David Neeleman argued that the slot exemptions ATA= hopes to sell to AirTran do not belong to either carrier but are the pro= perty of the government and only can be redistributed by DOT (ATWOnline, = Dec. 6). ATA is in Chapter 11 bankruptcy and has agreed to sell gate leas= es and landing and takeoff slots to AirTran for $87.6 million. Separately, NWA announced the launch of service with slots won in a slot = lottery. Those slots became available when Essential Air Service subsidie= s ended between DCA and West Virginia.--Perry Flint = Roger EWROPS