Airline Applications For DCA Slots Challenge Eligibility Criteria

Eight airlines have applied for five new beyond-perimeter roundtrip flights being made available at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA), with several challenging the criteria established by the FAA Reauthorization Act.

Alaska Airlines, American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Frontier Airlines, JetBlue Airways, Southwest Airlines, Spirit Airlines and United Airlines have made a case for one of 10 total slots being exempted from the airport’s 1,250 mi. perimeter rule. Four of the five roundtrips will go to non-limited incumbents, while just one will go to a limited incumbent—a carrier holding or operating fewer slots at DCA, below a threshold now defined as 40, not including slot exemptions.

In a June 24 request for applications, the U.S. Transportation Department (DOT) lists two limited incumbents: Air Canada and Alaska, and five non-limited incumbents: American, Delta, JetBlue, Southwest, and United.

However, Frontier and Spirit have pushed back against those definitions, the latter believing it is the only carrier eligible to receive the limited incumbent slot exemptions, discounting Alaska by combining its number of DCA slots and slot exemptions with those of codeshare partner American, and Air Canada due to its status as a foreign air carrier. Though it is not currently operating to DCA, Spirit points to the four slots it previously won in a 2003 FAA lottery, which were later sold to Southwest, in making its case for eligibility as an incumbent.

Frontier meanwhile sees itself in a category apart—as “the only incumbent limited incumbent carrier eligible to receive a slot pair in the present proceeding,” despite only holding DCA slot exemptions, citing similar arguments to preclude Air Canada and Alaska, while pointing to Spirit’s current absence from DCA.

The DOT has 60 days from the date the FAA Reauthorization Act was signed into law to make its selections, and any comments on applications are due July 17. In determining who gets the slots, the Act dictates two factors for consideration: whether the exemptions “enhance options for nonstop travel to beyond-perimeter airports that do not have nonstop service” to DCA; or whether they will “have a positive impact on the overall level of competition in the markets that will be served as a result of those exemptions.”

Three-year-old Breeze Airways believes it would have better served both of those factors, had it been eligible to apply. In its own filing, Breeze called its ineligibility “a failure of aviation policy,” stating that “the exclusion of new entrant airlines is a stark departure from prior legislation expanding opportunities at DCA.” The airline writes that it could have proposed several airports serving state capitals beyond the perimeter—including Boise, Idaho; Sacramento, California; Reno, Nevada; and Albuquerque, New Mexico—or other markets without DCA service. Instead, “the law represents the triumph of political expediency over sound aviation policy,” says Breeze, adding, “the traveling public and competition are the losers.”

Within the eight applications submitted by the July 8 deadline are proposals for service to nine cities, seven as primary choices while Delta and United each proposed one backup. The routes being sought comprise service from Salt Lake City, Utah (Delta—proposing a second daily service as its backup choice—with an Airbus A321neo), San Antonio, Texas (American, with an A321), San Diego (Alaska with a Boeing 737-800 or -8), San Francisco (United—seeking a second daily service as its primary choice—with a 737-8), San Juan, Puerto Rico (JetBlue, seeking a second daily service with an A321/A321neo; and Frontier, which did not specify an aircraft type but operates a fleet of A320-family ceos and neos), San Jose, California (Spirit, with an A320neo initially and potentially upgauging to an A321neo), Seattle (Delta—as its primary choice—with an A321neo), Las Vegas (Southwest, with continuing single-plane service to Sacramento, using a 737-800 or a -8) and Los Angeles (United—as its backup choice—with a 737-8).

Currently, seven airlines are authorized to operate 20 daily roundtrips to 10 beyond-perimeter destinations to/from DCA, with exemptions granted over the years enabling service to Austin; Denver; Las Vegas; Los Angeles; Phoenix; Portland, Oregon; Salt Lake City; San Francisco; San Juan; and Seattle.

JetBlue, the smallest airline to apply as a non-limited incumbent, describes the proceedings as a “rare opportunity” for DOT to support its efforts to grow organically, following recent federal rulings blocking a partnership with American and a proposed merger with Spirit.

“Scale is an increasingly existential issue for JetBlue and other smaller airlines, particularly post-COVID,” it writes. “JetBlue cannot continue to compete as it has historically without the opportunity to grow and gain scale.”