[2] Pan American World Airways purchased them, along with gates at LaGuardia's historic Marine Air Terminal, for $76 million.
[3] The rechristened Pan Am Shuttle launched on October 1, 1986, with dedicated crews, a fleet of Boeing 727 aircraft, and a newly renovated Marine Air Terminal.
[1] Though Pan Am suffered a precipitous financial decline in the ensuing years, culminating in the airline's January 1991 bankruptcy filing, the shuttle operation remained profitable.
[7] Amidst the fleet renewal, Delta Shuttle expanded its nonstop Boston-Washington service to nine daily round-trip flights, departing every other hour, on November 1, 2000.
This move was temporary, and by November 2005, Delta had retired the aging Boeing 737-300s in favor of a dedicated Shuttle fleet of nine larger, younger McDonnell Douglas MD-88 aircraft.
[13] On August 12, 2009, Delta Air Lines and US Airways announced their intention to swap facilities and takeoff and landing slots at capacity-controlled LaGuardia and Ronald Reagan Washington National Airports, pending government approval.
[14] Citing concerns about reduced competition, the United States Department of Transportation challenged several elements of the plan, and the frustrated airlines appealed the agency's ruling over the ensuing 21 months.
[18] On March 25, 2012, the longstanding Delta Shuttle schedule was adjusted as the parent carrier finally assumed control of the slot pairs acquired from US Airways at LaGuardia.
[20] With passenger loads declining, Delta discontinued the use of mainline Airbus A319s on the Boston route on June 10, 2012, in favor of Embraer 170 and 175s operated by Shuttle America.
The West Coast shuttle was further expanded in mid-2016 with Delta adding its recently established Seattle/Tacoma hub to the network, with service to both Los Angeles and San Francisco.
In response, both Delta and American have resorted to flying smaller regional aircraft on their shuttle routes, though hourly frequencies remain.