Move dovetails with AirTran’s new DCA/Austin route
Southwest Airlines has bought four slots at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA) from Spirit Airlines and plans to use the slots for two daily round trips from DCA to St. Louis.
"It’s an opportunity we saw and we took it," Southwest’s spokesperson Paul Flanigan told TravelMole.
The airline is awaiting approval from the Department of Transportation on slide filing, which can take up to 30 days and is also subject to FAA approval.
Last May the once-maverick, now mainstreaming airline purchased AirTran Airways for $1 billion and increased its grip on business travel with AirTran’s gates at LaGuardia Airport and its hub in Atlanta. AirTran’s daily Austin to DCA service starts July 8.
The new flights are part of the 2012 FAA Modernization and Reform Act, which created eight new ‘slot exemptions’ allowing airlines to fly beyond the 1,250-mile limit at the airport. Later this summer, Southwest will find themselves cheek-by-jowl with competitor Virgin America when it begins flights from San Francisco to DCA.
By Gretchen Kelly
