Feds tell Dallas officials they will 'reject proposal' to give Southwest ... - Dallas Morning News (blog)

Sir Richard Branson was the reigning rock star at last night's Virgin America party at The Rustic (Michael Ainsworth/Staff photographer)

Virgin America’s party at The Rustic Monday night had originally been scheduled as a victory party — the shot of tequila (or 10) after the signing of some paperwork that would have given the airline two gates at Dallas Love Field. Instead it became a “Free Love Field” rally led by no less a cheerleader than the airline’s rock-star founder himself, Sir Richard Branson, who still found time for a shot of tequila — and a shot at Southwest.

“They’re no longer the David,” he said of the Dallas-based airline. “They’re the Goliath, and sometimes Goliath needs a little competition. They have 90 percent of the traffic out of Love Field, and all we’re asking for is 10 percent. And with that 10 percent we can offer competition and give people choice.”

The Department of Justice agrees. Again.

In a letter sent to Dallas City Attorney Warren Ernst and Dallas City Manager A.C. Gonzalez on Monday, William Stallings, the DOJ’s Transportation, Energy & Agriculture Section chief, reminded 1500 Marilla that the feds want those gates, which are currently American Airlines’, to go to Virgin and only Virgin — not Delta, not Southwest.

Virgin, says Stallings, “has no existing presence at Love Field and will introduce a new competitor at that airport … Delta, a legacy carrier, is not an appropriate divestiture candidate [and] we rejected the proposal by Southwest given its already significant presence at Love Field, an airport that is gate constrained pursuant to law.”

Justice wants Gonzalez to sign Virgin’s lease. Anything less would be unacceptable, says Stallings. Despite a second Dallas City Council briefing on the matter scheduled for Wednesday, which is built around a consultant’s study that recommends giving Southwest the gates, Stallings makes it very clear: “We would also reject a proposal from the City of either of these two acquirers.”

Council member Philip Kingston — one of three members of the city council at the Virgin party, including Scott Griggs and Carolyn Davis — says it’s time to honor Justice’s wishes and move on.

“It’s a contractual dispute,” he said Monday night. “We have a lease, we need to follow the lease. If my colleagues think there’s something to be gained by gaming the lease, i think they may be mistaken. A.C. was worried about the policy and litigation implications, and wanted the input of council. That, I think, is on the side of discretion. I am not critical of that. But I do think he needs to go ahead and sign the thing.”

The letter is below.

Department of Justice Letter to City of Dallas by Robert Wilonsky

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