Delta Air Lines (DL, Atlanta Hartsfield Jackson) will maintain its Dallas Love Field operations through to January of next year after Southwest Airlines (WN, Dallas Love Field) offered it shared use of one of its sixteen gates at the airport. According to the Dallas News, Southwest has allowed Delta to maintain its ExpressJet Airlines-operated flights to Atlanta Hartsfield Jackson until January 6, when Southwest launches its Oakland International and San Francisco operations.
“We have let Delta know that we are willing to potentially accommodate them on a portion of a gate through January 6, 2015, in order to avoid inconveniencing passengers booked on Delta flights from Love Field during that time,” Southwest vice president and general counsel Mark Shaw said. “Our discussions with Delta are ongoing. Any accommodation is subject to agreement between Southwest and Delta covering reasonable terms and conditions. We hope and expect to conclude these discussions quickly.”
Delta is set to lose its sole gate at the Dallas airport effective October 13. The gate, leased from American Airlines (AA, Dallas/Fort Worth), was awarded to rival Virgin America (San Francisco) as part of the American Airlines-US Airways merger settlement with the US Department of Justice. Efforts to gain access to one of United Airlines' two gates have also proven fruitless as one will be sub-leased to Southwest while the other will be used for additional flights to Houston Intercontinental.
Delta has reportedly threatened to take Dallas town hall to court if it is unable to find it space at Love Field at least through the end of the year.
