Airport slots as assets, and more

• Our leading Daily Departure is an item from the Wall Street Journal (hidden behind the firewall). Deloitte reports that British Airways and BMI have added the value of their precious slots at crowded European airports to their balance sheets as assets. According to the report, a pair of slots at Heathrow (one for coming, one for going) are worth up to £25-30 million. With London airport capacity strained and with Open Skies increasing demand for slots at Heathrow, these slots are likely to grow in value.
• Congressman John Mica (R-Fla.), a powerful Transportation Committee member, has said that the Delta-Northwest merger is likely to be approved. [Aero-News.Net]
• The company managing highly-regarded Vancouver International Airport is bidding for the fifty-year contract to run Chicago’s Midway Airport [Globe and Mail]
• Three years on, US Airways finally has all its ramp workers and baggage handlers on a single contract. The pilots? That’s another battle. [Today in the Sky]
• Holly Hegeman advances some merger speculation regarding Southwest Airlines and its surprising $600 million. [PlaneBuzz]