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Southwest is urging federal regulators to block the proposed "slot swap" between Delta and US Airways, The Arizona Republic reports.
Southwest says the deal -- in which Delta and US Airways would essentially "swap" most of their landing rights at New York LaGuardia and Washington National airports -- is anti-competitive.
RELATED: Airport group opposes Delta-US Airways slot swap
The Republic writes "Dallas-based Southwest, US Airways' top competitor out of Phoenix, said the proposed swap would quash competition at Reagan National Airport and New York LaGuardia … . It also contends that the slot swap would lead to higher fares at those airports."
Delta and US Airways first proposed the slot swap in 2009. But they balked when the Department of Transportation -- as a condition of approval -- required the airlines to divest more "slots" than the airlines were willing to relinquish.
Delta and US Airways revived their bid earlier this year, agreeing to end an appeal of the DOT's decision with a new proposal that closely mirrored the original. While the carriers acknowledged the similarity, they contend "the competitive landscape in both cities has changed significantly since the transaction was first proposed in 2009."
That's largely the result of recent mergers between United and Continental and -- perhaps more importantly -- between Southwest and AirTran. A provision in the United merger gave Southwest flight rights at Newark Liberty, while Southwest's acquisition of AirTran will give it entry to Washington National and an expanded presence at New York LaGuardia.
Despite that, Southwest is not scaling back its objection to the Delta-US Airways deal.
"The current slot swap has the same anti-competitive features as the earlier version, namely, that it will fundamentally change the character of both these critical airports by transforming them into dominated 'hubs,' " Southwest says in a filing to the Department of Transportation.
Bloomberg News adds that "JetBlue Airways and Virgin America also filed objections."
The DOT has tentatively approved the swap, and past precedent would indicate that the deal is likely to go through, despite the objections.
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