Spirit, Frontier Airlines Sue US Department of Transportation

After a few months of consideration, both Spirit Airlines and Frontier Airlines filed individual lawsuits against the Department of Transportation over the awarding of five new flights at Washington Reagan National Airport this past October—mainly because the airlines themselves were passed over for the routes. 

The five new long-distance flights were part of the 2024 Federal Aviation Administration Reauthorization Act and determined by the Department of Transportation. The DOT awarded the routes to American, Delta, United, Southwest and Alaska Airlines. 

According to Skift, Spirit had applied to operate a flight from Reagan National to San Jose, California. Frontier, meanwhile, applied to fly from Reagan to San Juan. Both were passed over. 

Both lawsuits from the airlines claim the DOT misapplied specific definitions when considering which airlines should fly the routes, claiming that while they both qualify as “limited incumbents,” Alaska Airlines does not because it has a codeshare with American Airlines.

There were whispers about a potential lawsuit back in November, with Spirit Airlines hinting at litigation. Frontier and JetBlue both publicly objected to Alaska’s flight. 

“Despite broad proclamations and promises to make airline competition policy a top priority, DOT’s actual track record has inflicted on the traveling public the opposite of what it claims to be doing: it continues to make already dominant carriers even stronger, while preventing smaller carriers from growing and thus comparatively weakening them,” JetBlue stated. 

Alaska told Skift that its new Reagan National flight fulfills "Congress’s key objective of connecting airports that currently do not have nonstop service. DOT’s decision came after months of thorough consideration and input from aviation stakeholders.”

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