DELTA AND WESTJET FILE OBJECTION TO DOT SHOW CAUSE ORDER AND WITHDRAW APPLICATION FOR ANTITRUST IMMUNITY
December 3, 2020
On November 20, 2020, Delta Air Lines and WestJet jointly filed an objection to DOT’s Show Cause order regarding the tentative grant of approval, subject to certain conditions, of antitrust immunity for the proposed alliance between the two airlines. Delta and WestJet claimed that the conditions DOT placed on the tentative grant of approval were arbitrary and capricious, unreasonable, and unacceptable, and therefore Delta and WestJet withdrew their application and asked the Department to dismiss the proceeding and close out the docket. Specifically, Delta and WestJet took issue with: i) requiring that WestJet divest 100% of its slot portfolio at LaGuardia Airport (“LGA”), or else requiring Delta to divest an equivalent set of eight slot pairs from its own LGA slot portfolio; ii) requiring that WestJet’s Swoop affiliate and parent company be carved out from the joint venture; and iii) requiring that WestJet interline upon request with all other U.S. airlines besides United.
If you have any questions, please contact Evelyn Sahr (esahr@eckertseamans.com or 202-659-6622); Drew Derco (dderco@eckertseamans.com or 202-659-6665), or Andy Orr (aorr@eckertsemans.com or 202-659-6625).
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