This story has been updated.
The city of San Antonio is asking a judge to put an end to an ongoing lawsuit with Southwest Airlines over gate assignments in the San Antonio International Airport (SAT).
The airline, meanwhile, is gearing up to take its fight to a new venue: The Federal Aviation Administration.
San Antonio is in the midst of a $2.5 billion airport redevelopment that includes plans for a fancy new “Terminal C” that would feature up to 17 gates, spacious waiting areas and club lounges and a lushly landscaped, open-air courtyard.
Southwest Airlines, which currently dominates the largest terminal at SAT, says it was promised space in the new facilities but that city leaders reneged on the agreement.
A motion to dismiss filed by the city’s lawyers on Thursday said that “all of the airport’s major airlines” wanted placement in the new terminal, and it was “inevitable that one or more airlines would be unhappy with their gate assignments.”
Such disagreements “are exactly why Congress preserved airport proprietors’ rights to manage their airports in accord with local interest,” the motion reads.
Though a judge agreed to allow the city to proceed with its planned gate assignments, Southwest Airlines’ lawyers have been using the legal discovery process to pour through thousands of pages of internal city documents, including screenshots of text messages, they believe depict dishonest interactions with city leaders.
The city’s motion to dismiss sought to put an end to the fight by providing its rationale for the selections.
It also noted that by continuing to demand gates that have already been assigned, the airline hasn’t left the city any avenue to make amends.
“Southwest’s challenge is that there is not always a legal salve for disappointment,” the motion reads.
Southwest Airlines spokesman Chris Perry said San Antonio’s motion came as no surprise, and the airline remains “willing to work with the city to find a reasonable solution to right its past wrongs.”
In a nod to the potential lack of legal remedy, however, earlier this week Southwest Airlines took its complaints to the FAA, which has the final authority over whether airport proprietors treat their air carriers reasonably.
The FAA also has authority over the federal airport grants expected to help pay for a big chunk of San Antonio’s airport redevelopment. President Donald Trump just appointed a former airline executive to head the agency this week.
“San Antonio’s own documents prove what we have maintained all along: The city assigned gates in the new terminal based on a preference for airlines with first class service and club lounges in violation of federal law,” Perry said in a statement Friday. “The evidence also shows defendants misled SWA, taxpayers, and the City Council to the detriment of our customers, employees, and the Community.”
