Update: Southwest and JetBlue told regulators they’re interested in acquiring Washington flight slots that may be available under a settlement of the U.S. lawsuit to block the American Airlines-US Airways Group Inc. merger, people familiar with the matter said. The carriers want American and US Airways to give up as many slots as possible at Reagan National Airport, said the people, who asked not to be identified because details are private. Southwest also is in discussions with the Justice Department about adding slots at New York’s LaGuardia Airport, one person said.
Having a market for the slots would clear a possible hurdle as AMR Corp.’s American, US Airways and the Justice Department explore resolving the antitrust lawsuit filed Aug. 13 to block the merger. A post-merger American would have an unacceptably high 69 percent of Reagan National flights, the U.S. says.
For Southwest and JetBlue, the Justice Department’s insistence on AMR-US Airways asset sales as a condition to approve a merger creates an opportunity to expand at Reagan National, the only one of Washington’s three major airports with federal flight limits.