Frontier, JetBlue & Spirit Airlines Dispute DOT Decision On Coveted Ronald Reagan National Airport Slots

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, JetBlue, and Spirit Airlines expressed their dissatisfaction with the Department’s choices.

The trio filed objections to the DOT’s decision on October 30, with Frontier Airlines and Spirit Airlines asking the Department to award them slots, while JetBlue asked the government agency not to finalize its decision.

Yelling at clouds

In its objection, JetBlue pointed out a disconnect between the DOT’s goals and its actions in pursuit of these goals, including when it awarded the ten slots to five airlines for flights beyond the perimeter of Washington National Airport.

The airline cited the DOT’s announcement, which said that together with the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Antitrust division, it has launched a study into the state of competition in the airline industry in the United States.

“At the same time, DOT has inconsistently issued Order 2024-10-11, using a prominent “case by case” proceeding to reward the country’s five largest airlines with additional prized access to Washington, DC’s primary airport, while rejecting applications from the three smallest applicants who deliver lower-fare competition.”

JetBlue continued that despite promises to improve the state of competition in the airline industry, the DOT has acted against its own proclamations and has continued to make dominant carriers stronger while also preventing smaller airlines from growing and having a chance to compete against incumbents.

The airline cited inconsistencies such as allowing Delta Air Lines and Aeromexico to continue their joint venture (JV) despite the DOT’s findings of Mexico’s violations of the bilateral air transport agreement, yet disallowing Allegiant Air and VivaAerobus to begin their JV.

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

“JetBlue strongly objects to DOT Order 2024-10-11 and urges DOT to revisit its decision and not proceed to a final order.”

Asking for slots

Unlike JetBlue, Frontier Airlines and Spirit Airlines requested that the DOT reconsider its decision and award slots to the two carriers.

Ironically, the former said that the latter was not eligible to receive slots since Spirit Airlines has not operated flights from/to Washington National Airport, including on the day that the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2024 was enacted, May 16.

“The Department tentatively finds Spirit Airlines ineligible to apply for slot exemptions in this proceeding. As above, the same two-part test applies: first, a carrier must be an incumbent on the date of enactment of FAA 2024; and second, a carrier must then also qualify for status as a limited incumbent carrier.”

Nevertheless, Frontier Airlines argued that it was the only incumbent airline with the status of a limited incumbent carrier to be able to receive these slots, adding that Alaska Airlines was also ineligible to receive its slots.

The airline, noting that Spirit Airlines also expressed a similar opinion about Alaska Airlines, said that the DOT’s determination disregarded the latter’s codeshare agreement with American Airlines.

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

“Alaska placing its code on even a small portion of American’s flights operated from DCA would give it via code sharing greater access to DCA than Frontier has with its limited number of slots.”

In a cheeky move, Frontier Airlines also disputed the DOT’s grant of two slots in 2012, suggesting that it “may have been an error.”

Frontier Airlines pointed out that while the Department concluded that Alaska Airlines does not place the American Airlines code on its flights from/to Washington-National, “the reverse” was untrue.

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

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

Spirit Airlines’ objections

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

“[…] the Department must reverse its tentative decision finding for Alaska eligible as a limited incumbent and treat it as a non-limited incumbent at DCA.”

Similarly to JetBlue, Spirit Airlines outlined that despite Joe Biden, the president of the US, signing an executive order to improve competition in the country and the DOT beginning its investigation into the state of airline competition, the Department still awarded the five pairs of slots to dominant airlines.

“The DCA Show Cause Order will surely be included in the harmed competition list.”

Spirit Airlines said that the DOT’s improper conclusion about Alaska Airlines’ status at Washington-National and by giving the last non-limited incumbent slots to United Airlines, the Department ignored proper selection criteria and awarded slots to already-dominant carriers in the country.

“Combined, those 3 legacy airlines [American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, and Southwest Airlines – ed. note], together with the awards to United, and Alaska account for an approximate domestic market share of 77% and operate 90% of the DCA slots.”

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

Supporting the DOT

Unsurprisingly, the five airlines that received the ten slots (or five slot pairs) filed supportive documents, with Alaska Airlines, American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Southwest Airlines, and United Airlines applauding the DOT’s decision.

Alaska Airlines defended the DOT’s decision, saying that the Department was right, and Frontier Airlines and Spirit Airlines were not.

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

Furthermore, due to the settlement agreement with DOJ when Alaska Airlines consummated its merger with Virgin America, the airline was legally prohibited from showing American Airlines’ flight code on flights from/to Washington-National.

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