Delta Air Lines will stay at Dallas Love Field while their rival Southwest Airlines argues in court about space at the crowded airport.
Currently Delta operates five daily flights between Dallas and Atlanta using leased gate space Southwest is sub-letting from United Airlines. Southwest and United negotiated a lease agreement for two gates in early 2015, and Southwest agreed to allow Delta to use gate space until July 6. The two airlines are now trading legal arguments, with Delta refusing to vacate the space and Southwest accusing Delta of trespassing after the upcoming deadline.
The city of Dallas also filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court requesting that the court intervene ahead of the July 6 deadline to settle this long-running fight over which airlines can operate out of its local airport. Under a federal law that stood for more than 30 years, airlines at Love Field could only fly to other places in Texas or a few nearby states unless they used very small planes. Those limits expired in October which resulted in the fight for gate space.
The extension of Delta’s operations is indefinite while the airlines seek a long-term settlement in the courts.
