After thinking about Southwest filing an amicus brief in the AA/US/DoJ lawsuit all day, it has occurred to me that Southwest plans to argue how:

1. Southwest is the pre-eminent low cost carrier in the country
2. It needs slots in Washington D.C and New York to wield such an influence in those markets
3. Only Southwest can deliver competition against these massive giants

And then to complete the bizarre moment, I would imagine that American Airlines and US Airways will then have to argue that Southwest is not a low cost carrier and doesn’t offer nearly as much competition as people think.

At which point, the judge’s head will explode, I imagine.

Filed under: Airline News, Mergers and Bankruptcy by ajax
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The AA/US v DoJ settlement came more quickly than I expected and I am busier than usual at this time.

However, a few top level comments until I can sit down and do an analysis.

• I so far see the airlines giving up really nothing that they weren’t already prepared to give up for this deal.
• The gates they have to give up in the key airports does (potentially) remove barriers to entry for new airlines in those markets.
• Delta doesn’t surprise me in their loud, vocal expression that they would like to get those Washington D.C. slots.  (This was suggested to me by two sources as being an end game of Delta for weeks)
• I think it’s great that the Republican candidate for governor, Greg Abbott thinks this deal is a win for American Airlines.  Sadly, he didn’t originally and did very real damage as a result.  Blowing with the wind doesn’t impress me unless it’s an airliner.

More to come.

Filed under: Airline News by ajax
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