Amid ongoing flight woes, FAA says Delta can suspend some flights at Washington, New York

The Federal Aviation Administration said this week that Delta can temporarily scrap some flights into New York and Washington without getting dinged by the flight agency’s minimum-booking rules.

The FAA stipulates that, at busy airports, booking slots “are subject to a ‘use-or-lose’ provision, requiring a carrier to use allocated slots at least 80 percent of the time.” 

Its waiver of that rule for Delta means that the airline company will be able to temporarily cancel flights in and out of John F. Kennedy International Airport, LaGuardia Airport and Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport without running afoul of the 80 percent rule. 

The ruling "will support Delta’s steps to make schedule adjustments and staff assignments to increase the reliability of its operations and minimize disruptions to travelers,” the FAA said on Friday. 

Delta, meanwhile, said the waiver “will allow us to continue improving shared challenges and service reliability with minimal impact to customers."