City of Dallas still in talks with Delta about Love Field

[commavia]

http://southwest.investorroom.com/index.php?s=43&item=1978
 
More To Love: Southwest Airlines To Offer More Destinations, More Low Fares For Dallas Customers
 
"The new flights will be made possible through a long-term sub-lease agreement that will transfer usage of two gates in the newly rebuilt 20-gate facility from United Airlines to Southwest Airlines. Terms of the deal are confidential. The transaction was reviewed and cleared without conditions by the U.S. Department of Justice Antitrust Division. The City of Dallas, the owner and operator of Love Field, also has approved the sublease."

 

[SharoninSAT]

.
Here's more...
Southwest says it has 18 of Dallas Love Field's gates, will expand service...
 
http://aviationblog.dallasnews.com/2015/01/southwest-airlines-says-it-has-18-of-dallas-love-fields-gates-will-expand-service.html/

 

[WorldTraveler]

specific to the DL angle of this discussion, DL's 5 ATL-DAL flights are still available for sale thru the end of their booking window - currently Dec 27, 2015.

congrats to WN on the additional flights and further confirmation that DAL is a vibrant and viable alternative and addition to DFW. notably none of them are DL hub cities which WN said they would start if they won the 2 gates from AA

and this further complicates AA's need to stabilize fares in the N. Texas market and will likely lead to further market share loss.

 

[commavia]

I'm sure AA will be just fine - something tells me they and Southwest are more than capable of finding a healthy equilibrium and both succeeding in a market as large and rich as "N. Texas."  But by all means let's indulge in the AA doom and gloom ...

 

[WorldTraveler]

I didn't say that I underestimated the impact of the competitive expansion in key AA markets; AA execs did.

As I have long said, DAL is a great addition to the transportation options in N. Texas and WN will do everything possible to maximize the use of the gates at DAL and do very well in the process.

As long as other carriers that want to serve DAL are permitted to do so, I am all for WN expanding as much as it can.

The addition of new cities absolutely impacts AA more than any other carrier.

 

[eolesen]

Anyone else notice the cities they chose to announce? MKE, MEM, and SEA. Why is that?

Interesting that UA pulled the plug so quickly. Or maybe WN made an offer UA just couldn't refuse.

 

[does this plane go to paris]

Since Dallas is experiencing such a dynamic 2nd airport, Atlanta should look into a second airport.

 

[robbedagain]

E  I would think that may be  just may be WN offered UA one sweet deal they could not refuse  esp how quick this was done.     Naturally WN is going into places where DL either had a hub or is building up a hub...  

 

[jimntx]

NO, NO, NO, NO, NO!  Only Delta can move into other airlines' hubs and focus cities.  There is nothing natural about what WN is doing.  I think it's banned in the Bible.

 

[swamt]

This is fantastic news. Came alot sooner than I thought it would.  You all are correct on how quickly UAL came to an agreement on the 2 gates.  I also think it was a deal UAL could not refuse, but, SWA will more than benefit from it.  I see someone has piped in very quickly again to cover the Delta issue and was the first to bring up the Delta at LF issue.  With that said, I see problems for Delta remaining at LF.  Number one, they are subleasing currently from UAL for a 1/2 gate usage.  This gate they are subleasing will become SWA's gates by April.  I know, I know, Delta has a lease agreement (TEMPORARILY) until July 6th, 2015. We will all see what will happen when that time comes.  And there are some what ifs and buts that we all need to examine.  IF SWA decides to use the 2 gates to their fullest potentials, then Delta will have problems remaining at LF after their TEMPORARILY gate lease with UAL/SWA expires in July.  IF and only IF SWA does not fully utilize the 2 gates then Delta may very well get extremely lucky once again and EXTEND the temporarily gate lease they currently have.  SWA has stated they are adding 9 new non-stop flights as well as ADDING more flights to existing non-stops and other flights.  I am very positive that SWA will in fact add plenty of flights to fully utilize these gates, or else they would have never made the deal with UAL, for "long term leases" so quickly.  This will get very interesting come April and July 2015.  Delta still only flies 5 flights out of LF, UAL was flying 7, and decided to lease 2 gates to SWA and move their 7 flights, in combination, over to DFW.  This is what Delta should do IMO.  The longer this goes on the more SWA will flood and overcome the Delta issues at LF.  This is great news and it came a year earlier than I was expecting, but SWA saw the benefit of rushing this forward and getting it done.  And yes folks, I will still say that Delta's days are numbered at LF, it's only a matter of time...

 

[WorldTraveler]

uh, the thread title is about DL, genius, and the hopes that some continue to have that DL will be forced out of DAL.

DL has a valid sublease and WN is honoring it.

UA threw in the towel because they were dependent on local traffic and beyond Wright perimeter connections which are much less valuable now than they were when Wright was operating.

ATL is simply a much larger hub including with int'l service which WN does not operate and which is not served via either IAH or nonstop from DFW and which DL carries from DAL via ATL.

since the world WN knows only involves 737s (granted in a couple sizes) it is apparently lost on you that DL was flying more seats with its fewer flights than UA was because DL uses MAINLINE AIRCRAFT.

It doesn't really matter what you think DL should do. I'm sure that DL has some suggestions for WN as well.

WN might well decide to push the button and push DL out and it will be up to that point for DL to decide whether to file suit because the Justice Dept. has completely failed at maintaining competitiveness in what will be one of the top 20 airports in the US.

DAL is a strong alternative to DFW and I have long said that I support WN's growth there.

I do not and never will support any carrier dominating an airport to the exclusion of competitors.

I also don't think DL will have much trouble finding people in Washington to agree with it if DL is forced out of DAL against its will.

 

[robbedagain]

should dl be forced out  it wont be against the will    esp if wn waits til the temporary lease is expired come july   but only time will tell     Id also be willing to bet DFW does better for DL  and UA compared to DAL   which could also help explain UA departure in addition to WN paying them to leave... DAL and move it to DFW....

 

[Kev3188]

I'm sure DL has plans A/B/C in place for whatever may come. JMHO, but I doubt they will take it as far through the courts as some on here think. As for Capitol Hill, they may get a sympathetic ear or two, but it's simply not a hot button issue for the nation (or any given constituency, for that matter)...
 
If they can't stay at DAL, they'll simply redeploy those assets elsewhere. That may mean further "optimizing" DFW to an extent, or elsewhere on the system.

 

[WorldTraveler]

If DL was ready to roll over at DAL, they have had more than enough chances to do it before.

DL will fight because the premise of deregulation and the American free enterprise system is open and fair competition.

there is nothing fair or open about arguing that DAL should have been opened up to competition and then for WN to control 90% of the gates. Even the most jaded legislator or judge can see the travesty involved.

Virgin won't last. If DL doesn't fight then WN stands the chance of gaining entire control of the 20th largest airport in the US - and that is based on current seats; once WN publishes its schedule with new flights even with DL's 5 flights still there, it is very likely that DAL will end up even higher on the list.

If WN wants to dominate the airport and DAL doesn't want to provide access to other carriers, then federal funding should be stopped.

DAL is already the most concentrated large airport in the US and the deal to transfer gates only makes it worse.

given all of the stink WN made about getting into LGA, the argument they used will completely backfire given that DAL is very close to having as many seats as LGA and yet there is far more competition at LGA than at DAL.

and don't use the "they could just go to DFW." the same could easily have been said about going to JFK which does not operate at peak capacity around the clock. and the DOJ said that carriers must be allowed to serve LGA.

DFW will look mighty attractive to WN when Congress decides that DAL cannot be so heavily concentrated, not allow competition, and can't receive federal funds. and don't for a minute think that DL won't find a lot of friends - including AA who would love to push for that to happen.

and there is no evidence that WN will be stupid enough to push DL out and start that ball rolling.

btw, DL will grow DFW regardless of what happens at DAL.

 

[eolesen]

swaamt, I don't know that DL's days are numbered. If they're smart, WN will maintain the status quo. No more, no less. DL will be pigeon-holed into their five flights a day, and that reduces their ability to go crying to a judge.

Since it appears Expressjet/Skywest/ASA/UnitedExpress or whoever was doing the ground handling leaving, does this mean DL will have to pay WN to handle its flights? Will DL be able to find a ground handler to handle five flights a day?

Perhaps it's time for DL to admit they've been outmaneuvered.