Southwest Airlines Chairman/CEO Gary Kelly has fired a salvo at Delta Air Lines as the two carriers continue their legal fight over gate space at Dallas' Love Field.
It's been more than three years now since a federal judge ordered a temporary injunction in Delta's favor, granting the airline five daily flights to Atlanta. Southwest operates 18 of the 20 gates at Love Field but was forced to share space with Delta.
It was supposed to be a temporary arrangement; now, Delta not only wants to keep the five flights but wants to add eight more.
The case was supposed to be heard in February of this year but was postponed until September, prompting some of Kelly's frustration with the process and his comments at a North Dallas Chamber of Commerce meeting.
"It's like you having rented a house, and there's a squatter in the house and you've got to get them out," Kelly told the audience. "It's really no more complicated than that."
But when the court is involved, it is.
It was the city of Dallas, which owns Love Field, that initiated legal proceedings hoping to force a decision. Instead, it has only become more complicated with a third airline being drawn into the mix - Alaska Airlines, which inherited gates at Love Field when it acquired Virgin America.
The city has since asked the courts to accommodate Delta's request by having the eight additional flights fly out of Alaska Airlines' gates. Alaska responded by announcing plans to increase its own flights, making gate space a moot point.
"Only long term, meaningful competition provides the best options and fares for the citizens of Dallas," a Delta spokesperson said in response to Kelly's comments. "And to that end, we are pursuing our right to continue flying out of Love Field."
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