BEFORE THE

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY

WASHINGTON, D.C.

__________________________________________

)

Application of )

)

SOUTHWEST AIRLINES CO. ) 

) Docket DOT-OST-2000-7182

under 49 U.S.C. § 41718 for pendente lite )

authority to operate slot exemptions between )

Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport )

and Kansas City International Airport (DCA-MCI) )

__________________________________________ )

REPLY OF SOUTHWEST AIRLINES CO. 

AND MOTION FOR LEAVE TO FILE

Communication with respect to this 

 document should be addressed to:

Ron Ricks Robert W. Kneisley

 Executive Vice President & Associate General Counsel

 Chief Legal & Regulatory Officer Leslie C. Abbott

Mark Shaw Senior Attorney

 Vice President General Counsel SOUTHWEST AIRLINES CO.

 and Corporate Secretary 1901 L Street, NW, Suite 640

SOUTHWEST AIRLINES CO. Washington, DC 20036

2702 Love Field Drive bob.kneisley@wnco.com

Dallas, TX 75235-1611 (202) 263-6284

August 12, 2013
BEFORE THE

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY

WASHINGTON, D.C.

__________________________________________

)

Application of )

)

SOUTHWEST AIRLINES CO. ) 

) Docket DOT-OST-2000-7182

under 49 U.S.C. § 41718 for pendente lite )

authority to operate slot exemptions between )

Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport )

and Kansas City International Airport (DCA-MCI) )

__________________________________________ )

REPLY OF SOUTHWEST AIRLINES CO. 

AND MOTION FOR LEAVE TO FILE

Southwest Airlines Co. (“Southwest”) submits this Reply to the Answer of 

Republic Airline Inc. (“Republic”) filed on August 6, 2013 in this docket opposing 

Southwest’s application for pendente lite authority to serve DCA-MCI beginning January 

6, 2014, after Republic’s subsidiary Frontier Airlines was scheduled to terminate service 

in that market.

MOTION FOR LEAVE TO FILE

To the extent necessary, Southwest seeks leave from the Department to file this 

Reply under Rule 6 of the Rules of Practice (14 CFR § 302.6) for good cause shown. 

This Reply responds to incomplete statements in Republic’s Answer and will thereby 

contribute to a more accurate and complete record for the Department.

REPLY OF SOUTHWEST

Republic’s Answer is most notable for what it does not say:
Reply of Southwest Airlines Co.

August 12, 2013

Page 2

Republic does not even acknowledge that (much less explain why) Frontier 

withdrew all of its previously filed DCA-MCI schedules for flights after January 5. 

Republic does not explain why, if Frontier sincerely intended to continue serving 

DCA-MCI, Frontier explicitly told the MCI airport director that it would leave DCAMCI after January 5.

Republic also does not disclose its plans for the slot exemptions that Frontier 

currently uses to serve the DCA-MCI market after Frontier is sold to a third party. 

Such sale is widely rumored to occur before the end of 2013. See, e.g., 

Outgoing Spirit Airlines Chairman in Talks to Buy Frontier Airlines, Wall Street 

Journal, July 30, 2013.1

Instead of providing any of the information above, which would inform the 

Department and the public about Republic/Frontier’s true intentions regarding the slot 

exemptions that are used for the DCA-MCI market, Republic simply asserts that 

Southwest’s application is based on the “erroneous assumption” that Frontier would 

cease service in this market on January 5 (Answer at p. 1). 

Southwest’s Application for pendente lite authority to serve DCA-MCI was not 

filed in a vacuum. It was filed directly in response to Frontier’s withdrawal of all DCAMCI flights after January 5 from published schedules and the fact that Frontier explicitly 

informed the MCI airport director that it would terminate service after January 5. 

Desiring to avoid an interruption in that service and the inconvenience for DCA-MCI 

 

1

Available at: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324354704578638130697023770.html
Reply of Southwest Airlines Co.

August 12, 2013

Page 3

travelers that would result, Southwest sought authority to continue DCA-MCI service 

beginning January 6 until the Department concluded a re-allocation proceeding for the 

affected slot exemptions.

2 Kansas City Mayor Sylvester James wrote the Department in 

strong support of Southwest’s application, as did Mark Van Loh, Director of Aviation for 

the Kansas City International Airport. 

It was only after the filing of Southwest’s application (and no doubt in response to

it), that Frontier reinstated flights in published schedules for serving DCA-MCI postJanuary 5. This raises obvious questions about the future of Republic/Frontier’s 

commitment to this market, none of which Republic has answered. After all, Frontier 

previously pulled down two of its three daily DCA-MCI flights, moving all of its 

transferable DCA slots away from MCI. It would hardly be surprising if Republic/Frontier 

terminated its last remaining DCA-MCI flight, operated with slot exemptions that cannot 

be moved to other markets. 

For that reason, as well as the impending sale of Frontier, we urge the 

Department to closely monitor Frontier’s service in the DCA-MCI market. Southwest is 

committed to serving MCI and stands ready to serve DCA-MCI if given the opportunity. 

While Republic/Frontier drastically cut MCI service in recent years, Southwest has 

expanded MCI service. Since 2009 Republic/Frontier dropped nonstop service to six 

MCI destinations altogether, and now serves only two such destinations from MCI with 

 

2

Southwest’s pendente lite service would also have prevented the undesirable result of a US Airways 

nonstop monopoly in DCA-MCI. 
Reply of Southwest Airlines Co.

August 12, 2013

Page 4

six daily departures. Southwest serves 23 MCI nonstop destinations with 67 daily 

departures.3

In sum, there is considerable doubt that Republic/Frontier will continue DCA-MCI 

service over the long term - and perhaps even the short term, once Frontier is sold. 

Nevertheless, because the factual predicate for Southwest’s July 29 application has, for 

now, ceased to exist, Southwest has no objection to the Department either taking no 

action on its application or dismissing it without prejudice to re-filing if circumstances 

warrant. In either case the Department’s overriding goal should be to ensure that the 

valuable DCA slot exemptions currently being operated in DCA-MCI do not go unused. 

Respectfully submitted,

__________________________

Robert W. Kneisley 

August 12, 2013

Washington DC

 

3

Source: Innovata Schedule data for August 12, 2013.
CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE

I hereby certify that on August 12, 2013, a copy of the foregoing document was 

served via e-mail on the following persons:

msinick@ssd.com (Alaska Airlines)

francis.heil@aa.com (American Airlines)

sascha.vanderbellen@delta.com (Delta Air Lines)

robert.cohn@hoganlovells.com (Frontier Airlines & Republic Airline)

patrick.rizzi@hoganlovells.com (Frontier Airlines & Republic Airline

robert.land@jetblue.com (JetBlue Airways)

jhill@dowlohnes.com (JetBlue Airways)

dkirstein@yklaw.com (Spirit Airlines)

jyoung@yklaw.com (Spirit Airlines)

John.Fredericksen@suncountry.com (Sun Country Airlines)

dan.weiss@united.com (United Air Lines)

howard_kass@usairways.com (US Airways)

Benjamin.slocum@usairways.com (US Airways)

pmurphy@lopmurphy.com (USA3000)

barbara.russell@virginamerica.com (Virgin America)

jegillick@zsrlaw.com (Virgin America)

susan.kurland@dot.gov

todd.homan@dot.gov

peter.irvine@dot.gov

bob.goldner@dot.gov

james.Dann@dot.gov

brian.ctr.meehan@faa.gov

Mark D. VanLoh, A.A.E.

Director of Aviation

Kansas City International Airport

601 Brasilia Avenue

Kansas City, MO 64153-2054

Mark.VanLoh@kcmo.org

John Potter

President and CEO

Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority

1 Aviation Circle 

Washington, DC 20001 

info@airlineinfo.com

________________________

Leslie C. Abbott