Yesterday was the deadline for proposals for the 14 weekly additional U.S.-Brazil route authorities that become available on October 1. US Airways did not apply, thus there will be no second flight between the Queen City and Brazil.
The airline currently has daily flights to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil’s second largest market. It also wants to fly daily to Sao Paolo, Brazil’s largest market, but the route authorities currently on offer can’t be used to Sao Paolo until its airport increases its terminal capacity, which is four or five years off. The idea was for US Airways to trade Delta for unrestricted frequencies as part of the big slot swap and then apply for replacement restricted frequencies for CLT-Rio. But the slot swap is still in limbo, so no US Airways bid.
That this is still on hold is especially frustrating given the small number of applications for routes. American Airlines asked for authority for seven weekly (i.e. daily) JFK – Rio flights and four-a-week Miami – Brasilia service. Continental, which would have had a strong case for Newark -Rio service, did not bid. United, JetBlue, and Spirit also did not apply. Delta, unable to conceive of anything better, asked for five Detroit-Sao Paolo frequencies. That is to say they want first dibs on extra Sao Paolo flights whenever they should become available.
So yeah, US Airways very likely would probably have gotten replacement Rio rights if it could have bid.
