Southwest, JetBlue eye AMR-US Airways slots

[NEW YORK] Southwest Airlines Co and JetBlue Airways Corp told regulators that they're interested in acquiring Washington flight slots that may be available under a settlement of the US lawsuit to block the American Airlines-US Airways Group Inc merger, people familiar with the matter said.

The carriers want American and US Airways to give up as many slots as possible at Reagan National Airport, said the people, who asked not to be identified because details are private. Southwest also is in discussions with the Justice Department about adding slots at New York's LaGuardia Airport, one person said.

Having a market for the slots would clear a possible hurdle as AMR Corp's American, US Airways and the Justice Department explore resolving the antitrust lawsuit filed on Aug 13 to block the merger. A post-merger American would have an unacceptably high 69 per cent of Reagan National flights, the US says.