Photo by andertho

No-frills flight purveyor Southwest Airlines has been hoping to move in to DCA for a long time now, but deals between other airlines on landing and takeoff slots have thus far prevented them from going forward. Now, as the Post reports, they’re asking the feds to get involved:

On Monday, the low-cost, Texas-based carrier asked the U.S. Department of Transportation to force US Airways and Delta Air Lines to auction off 14 landing and takeoff slots at the airport to the highest bidder in a public sale.

See, US Airways and Delta had agreed to a big flight slot swap between La Guardia and National, but the FAA told them they had to give up those additional 14 as well if they wanted to proceed. The airlines, however, are balking, and Southwest is claiming it’s because they fear allowing the low-cost airline’s successful business model to spread into yet another market.

I don’t know much about the how things like this usually shake out in the airline industry, but it sure would be nice to have more reasonably priced options out of DCA.