JetBlue seeks to block United from winning new Washington DC area flight

By David Shepardson

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -JetBlue Airways asked the U.S. Transportation Department on Wednesday to disqualify United Airlines from winning one of five new round-trip flights from congested Washington Reagan National Airport.

JetBlue said United's proposal to add a Washington to Los Angeles flight should be rejected because it would take off before 7 a.m. and the airline said that is prohibited by Congress. On May 16, President Joe Biden signed legislation creating the new flights at the busy airport in Arlington, Virginia, outside the nation's capital.

JetBlue has applied for a second round-trip flight to San Juan, Puerto Rico, from Reagan National Airport. United, which said its backup proposal was a new flight to Los Angeles, declined to comment.

Comments on applications must be submitted by July 17 and decisions on the new flights by the Transportation Department are to be announced later this month.

The Washington, D.C., region has three major airports, but Reagan National is the closest to the U.S. Capitol and downtown.

Because of its short runways, its main runway is the busiest in the country. Reagan is the 24rd-busiest U.S. airport as measured in passengers.

Delta Air Lines has applied for a new flight between Seattle and Reagan and if successful would compete with Alaska Airlines, which operates the two current daily flights between the airports.

Delta heavily lobbied for the change - and had pushed for adding far more daily flights - while United opposed it.

Southwest applied for a new daily flight between Washington and Las Vegas, which has only one flight per day on American Airlines. Las Vegas airport estimates the new flights would reduce average round-trip prices by $130.

American has applied to start a new daily flight between San Antonio, Texas, and Washington, which would connect the seventh-largest U.S. city to the D.C. airport.

Consumer advocacy group Travelers United urged the Transportation Department to reject the American Airlines application, saying that American operates about 60% of flights at Reagan.

Alaska Airlines has applied for a new daily flight to Reagan from San Diego, California, which is the largest market without direct flights to the D.C. airport

(Reporting by David Shepardson in WashingtonEditing by Matthew Lewis)