Spirit, Frontier protests preliminary DCA slot rejection

Spirit Airlines (NK, Fort Lauderdale International) and Frontier Airlines (F9, Denver International) object to the US Department of Transportation’s (DOT) preliminary denial of their application for slot pairs at Washington National and instead to have approved Alaska Airlines’ application provisional. .

In June, the DOT issued a slot waiver notice for Washington National (DCA), inviting applications for ten slots (five slot pairs) for daily flights. Four slot pairs are designated to non-restricted incumbent carriers and one slot pair is allocated to a restricted incumbent carrier.

Spirit had sought two slots for daily nonstop service to San José, USA, while Frontier sought a pair of slots for a daily service to San Juan Luis Muñoz Marin, Puerto Rico.

In October, however, the DOT determined that Spirit does not qualify for the prerequisite of being a “limited established carrier” since it did not serve Washington National on May 16, 2024 (and still does not), while Frontier did not meet the definition of a new participant. Instead, the DOT provisionally granted the slot exemptions to Alaska Airlines, American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Southwest Airlines and United Airlines.

Spirit and Frontier have urged the DOT to reconsider its decision. In separate regulatory filings, Spirit argues that the DOT’s decision is inconsistent with the 2024 FAA Reauthorization Act, Section 502, which mandated the allocation of 10 exception slots to improve nonstop travel options to non-perimeter airports that lack service from DCA and increase competition on the market. This followed President Joe Biden’s 2021 executive order to promote competition in the US economy, which directed Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg to improve consumer flight options and services.

Spirit argues in its objection that Section 502 primarily benefits legacy airlines. It argues that the legislation effectively guarantees that American, Delta and Southwest will each receive two slots. Together with United and Alaska, these airlines control about 77% of the domestic market and operate 90% of the slots at DCA.

According to Spirit, on July 17, 2024, Sen. Maria Cantwell, chairwoman of the Senate Commerce Committee, specified which cities would receive service in a letter to the DOT, naming San Antonio International (American), Seattle Tacoma International (Delta), Las. Vegas Harry Reid (Southwest), and adds San Diego International for Alaska Airlines. Following its recent merger with Hawaiian Airlines (HA, Honolulu), Alaska has become the fifth-largest domestic airline with nearly 8% market share, Spirit notes in its post. Spirit claims the DOT had two options:

• recognize Alaska as a non-restricted incumbent and assign the Spirit San José route as a limited incumbent; or
• label Alaska Airlines a restricted incumbent operator and allocate the remaining non-restricted incumbent slots to JetBlue Airways (B6, New York JFK) for Puerto Rico or United Airlines for San Francisco.

But in a surprise move, the DOT allocated slots to United Airlines, “to ensure low-cost carriers were shut out”.

Meanwhile, Frontier claims the DOT exceeded its authority by exempting Alaska Airlines from a non-existent statutory exclusion. It claims its disqualification stems from an incorrect legal interpretation and contradicts the DOT’s previous rulings regarding Frontier’s status. It also claims that an existing codeshare partnership between American and Alaska already gives the Alaskan carrier “meaningful access to the DCA market” and that their total combined slots at DCA “far exceed the 20 limit”.

In a separate letter to Buttigieg, San José Mineta International Airport and the Silicon Valley region also objected to the DOT’s preliminary decision against Spirit Airlines.