Frontier, JetBlue and Spirit Airlines dispute DOT decision over coveted slots at Ronald Reagan National Airport

Following the Department of Transportation's (DOT) decision to allocate slots for flights from Washington Ronald Reagan National Airport (DCA) to five airlines, Frontier Airlines, JetBlueand Spirit Airlines expressed dissatisfaction with the ministry's decisions.

The trio appealed the DOT's decision on Oct. 30. Frontier Airlines and Spirit Airlines asked the ministry to allocate slots to them, while JetBlue asked the government agency not to finalize its decision.

Yelling at clouds

In its appeal, JetBlue pointed to a discrepancy between the DOT's goals and its actions to achieve those goals, including as it awarded the 10 slots to five airlines for flights beyond the radius Washington National Airport.

The airline cited the DOT's announcement that it had commissioned a study with the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice (DOJ) on the state of competition in the airline industry in the United States.

“At the same time, the DOT inconsistently issued Regulation 2024-10-11, using a prominent “case-by-case” procedure to provide the nation’s five largest airlines additional, valuable access to Washington, DC’s main airport, while Applications from the three smallest applicants who offer more favorable competition were rejected.”

JetBlue continued that despite its promises to improve the state of competition in the airline industry, the DOT has acted contrary to its own announcements and continued to empower dominant airlines while preventing smaller airlines from growing and having a chance to compete to compete with incumbent operators.

The airline pointed to discrepancies such as the approval of Delta Air Lines and Aeromexico However, the company declined to continue its joint venture (JV) despite the DOT's findings of Mexico's violations of the bilateral air transport agreement Allegiant Air and VivaAerobus establish their joint venture.

As expected, JetBlue expressed disappointment with the DOT and DOJ's efforts to end the Northeast Alliance (NEA) and the two agencies' objections to the now lifeless merger with Spirit Airlines while approving Alaska Airlines Hawaiian Airlines Fusion.

“JetBlue strongly opposes DOT Order 2024-10-11 and urges the DOT to reconsider its decision and not proceed with a final order.”

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I'm asking about slots

Unlike JetBlue, Frontier Airlines and Spirit Airlines asked the DOT to reconsider its decision and allocate slots to the two airlines.

Ironically, the former said that the latter was not entitled to slots because Spirit Airlines did not operate flights to/from Washington National Airport, including on the day the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2024 went into effect, May 16.

“The Department tentatively concludes that Spirit Airlines is not eligible to apply for slot exceptions in this proceeding. As above, the same two-part test applies: First, an air carrier must be an incumbent as of the effective date of FAA 2024; and secondly, a freight forwarder must then also qualify for restricted incumbent freight forwarder status.”

Still, Frontier Airlines argued that it was the only incumbent airline with restricted incumbent status that could obtain these slots, adding that Alaska Airlines was also ineligible to obtain its slots.

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The airline noted that Spirit Airlines also expressed a similar opinion about Alaska Airlines, saying the DOT's decision disregarded its codeshare agreement with American Airlines.

According to Frontier Airlines, American Airlines and Alaska Airlines combined used 376 slots at the airport, which was more than 17 times the limit.

“If Alaska deploys its code on even a small portion of American flights operating out of DCA, it will have better access to DCA through code sharing than Frontier with its limited number of slots.”

In a cheeky move, Frontier Airlines also denied the DOT's granting of two slots in 2012, suggesting that this was the case “Maybe it was a mistake.”

Frontier Airlines noted that while the Department concluded that Alaska Airlines does not display the American Airlines code on its flights to/from Washington-National, “the contrary” was untrue.

Photo: Vincenzo Pace | Easy flying

The airline said that between May and September, 57 daily American Airlines flights to/from Washington were marketed under the Alaska Airlines code, suggesting the latter has meaningful access to the market at Washington-National.

Therefore, Frontier Airlines requested the DOT not to allocate slots to Alaska Airlines and to allocate two slots to the airline to operate flights between Washington and Washington San Juan Luis Munoz Marin International Airport (SJU).

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Objections from Spirit Airlines

In his objection Spirit Airlines essentially reiterated what Frontier Airlines said about Alaska Airlines and its codeshare agreement with American Airlines:

“[…] “The Department must reverse its preliminary determination of Alaska as a restricted incumbent and treat it as an unrestricted incumbent in DCA.”

Similar to JetBlue, Spirit Airlines explained that despite US President Joe Biden signing an executive order to improve competition in the country and the US Department of Transportation launching an investigation into the state of airline competition, the ministry still awarded the five pairs of slots to market dominant companies Airlines.

“The DCA Show Cause Order will certainly be added to the list of aggrieved competitions.”

Photo: Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport

Spirit Airlines said that because of the DOT's incorrect conclusion about Alaska Airlines' status at Washington-National and the awarding of the last non-limited established slots to United Airlines, the department ignored the proper selection criteria and awarded slots to already dominant airlines in the country.

“Taken together, these three legacy airlines [American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, and Southwest Airlines – ed. note]Combined with the allocations to United and Alaska, they have a domestic market share of approximately 77% and operate 90% of DCA slots.”

Spirit Airlines concluded that the proposed service between Washington-National and San Jose Mineta International Airport (SJC) would serve the public interest by providing consumers with low-cost travel options and filling a gap for low-cost flights from Northern California to Washington, DC closes.

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Support of the DOT

Not surprisingly, the five airlines that received the ten slots (or five pairs of slots) filed supporting documents with Alaska Airlines. American AirlinesDelta Air Lines, Southwest Airlines and United Airlines welcome the DOT's decision.

Photo: Great Circle Mapper

Alaska Airlines defended the DOT's decision, saying the department was right but Frontier Airlines and Spirit Airlines were not.

The airline stated that it only operated flights to/from Washington-National with slot exemptions, with the non-exempt slots being leased (and not traded) to Southwest Airlines.

Photo: Robin Guess | Shutterstock

Additionally, as a result of the settlement agreement with the DOJ upon consummation of the merger with Virgin America, the airline was legally prohibited from displaying American Airlines flight code on flights to/from Washington-National.

As a result, Alaska Airlines was not an affiliated airline of American Airlines and did not receive one “sensible access” via its relationship with the carrier to the airport market.

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