The ongoing saga over the rights to gates at Dallas’ Love Field has forced Alaska Airlines to blink.
The carrier has decided to cut two of its current routes from Love and is putting on hold its plans to increase the number of overall daily flights it operates from the airport.
Love Field is owned by the city of Dallas, which has filed suit against Delta Air Lines for not vacating gates at the airport to Southwest Airlines. A hearing is scheduled for Sept. 9 in U.S. District Court in Dallas.
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Delta maintains it should not have vacated the slots even though the city has an agreement with Southwest.
airlines-drops-two-routes-love-field-cuts-expansion-plans-airport-trial-looms” target=”_blank” rel=”nofollow noopener noreferrer”>Southwest, Delta and Alaska are all vying for space at the 20-gate airfield.
Alaska Airlines is cutting its routes from Love Field to San Diego and San Jose, respectively, after Nov. 5 and will stay with its current total of 13 daily flights instead of expanding to 20.
“Our long-term goal has been to increase flights from Love Field but with the current litigation surrounding gates and the uncertainty of future gate access, we have made the business decision to pause on those growth plans,” Alaska Airlines said in a statement. “We will continue to maintain current service levels with some modifications to the schedule this fall.”
Alaska Airlines is shifting the San Diego and San Jose flights to Portland and Seattle, respectively. Seattle is the airline’s main hub.
