Southwest and Delta headed for price war at Hartsfield-Jackson

Southwest Airlines and Delta Air Lines are expected to launch a pricing war at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport once Southwest's takeover of AirTran is complete (Reuters, 14-Oct-2010). Through the AirTran deal, Southwest is able to operate services at the airport which has long been dominated by Delta. Delta accounted for 60% of total passengers at Hartsfield-Jackson, not including regional airlines, for the year to date through Aug-2010 while AirTran accounted for 16.3% of passengers in that same period.