Delta and Southwest become mired in legal tussles at Love Field. Passengers may be the losers

Legal wrangling among the City of Dallas, Southwest Airlines and Delta Air Lines has intensified ahead of a 6-Jul-2015 expiration date on leases for gates that Delta uses at the airport. The amped up legal activity shows that there is no shortage of controversy in the consolidated, and mostly mature, US market.

In a complex web of leases and subleases, Delta is leasing gates Southwest is sub-letting from United. Southwest and United negotiated a lease agreement for two gates in early 2015, and Southwest has allowed Delta to use gate space until early Jul-2015. The two airlines are now trading legal barbs, with Delta refusing to vacate the space and Southwest accusing Delta of trespassing after the upcoming deadline.

The city of Dallas has sought clarification from a US District Court in how to proceed in the Southwest-Delta dispute while the US DoT is backing Delta. Both airlines, meanwhile, have sold tickets for travel beyond the Jul-2015 deadline, seemingly disregarding the operational nightmare it could create at the airport.