SAN ANTONIO- Southwest Airlines (WN) intensified its legal fight against the City of San Antonio Thursday (February 27, 2025), filing an amended complaint accusing airport officials of misrepresenting facts to the court and taxpayers regarding terminal expansion plans.
The airline claims newly obtained internal city documents prove San Antonio International Airport (SAT) officials showed “subjective preference” for certain airlines despite denying such bias under oath. Southwest alleges officials made gate assignments based on which airlines would be a better “fit” for the new terminal.
Southwest Accuses San Antonio
The dispute began in September when Southwest, SAT’s largest carrier, filed a lawsuit after being denied space in the planned new terminal. The airline refused to sign a new lease agreement following two years of negotiations.
According to the amended complaint, city documents reveal officials “deliberately concealed from Southwest its plan to keep Southwest in Terminal A.” Southwest’s lawyers argue this concealment prevented the airline from negotiating for the additional funding it believed necessary to renovate the older terminal.
The airline now seeks damages for alleged misrepresentations by city and airport officials.
San Antonio’s city attorney’s office responded with a statement asserting the amended complaint “recasts Southwest’s previous allegations but adds distortions and misrepresentations” and maintains the claims lack merit.
“The city’s processes in negotiating an Airline Use and Lease Agreement with all of the airlines and in assigning gates were legal and appropriate,” the statement continued. “We look forward to the court hearing on these matters where we will address Southwest’s allegations. We will continue to move forward to expand the airport in a way that makes sense for our customers and our airlines.”
Airport Terminal Dispute
Southwest Airlines has intensified its legal battle with the City of San Antonio by highlighting newly discovered evidence that allegedly shows discriminatory terminal assignment practices. The airline claims Terminal A cannot accommodate its future expansion plans.
Seven other airlines agreed to sign the 10-year airport use agreement that outlines payment terms and gate assignments. Airport officials maintain these assignments reflect carriers’ requests and projected demand.
Jesus Saenz, Director of Airports, defended the process as “a very rigorous, fair and equitable process to define specifically what is best for the airport, the airlines and the passengers.”
Southwest initiated legal action after refusing to sign the agreement, alleging the city “unlawfully and unfairly applied subjective criteria” to exclude Southwest from the new terminal because its passenger “profile” supposedly didn’t fit the new accommodations.
When a federal judge rejected Southwest’s preliminary request to halt gate reassignments, Southwest Airlines Vice President of Airport Affairs Steve Sisneros emphasized their determination to continue challenging the selection criteria. “First, and most importantly, we need to go through the preliminary injunction hearing, to go through discovery, to better understand how the city of San Antonio came to their decision on how Southwest is not a fit,” Sisneros stated.
The city provided approximately 27,000 pages of discovery documents on February 12, related to terminal planning, gate assignments, and the lease agreement.
Southwest’s February 27 complaint includes screenshots of gating scorecard worksheets, officials’ text messages, and passenger survey results. These documents allegedly demonstrate the city favored airlines serving business travelers with first-class service and club lounges while penalizing Southwest’s leisure-travel customer base.
The filing also references documents from Corgan, the principal architect for the new terminal, showing instructions to design the terminal specifically to accommodate other airlines and their lounges.
“Bait and Switch”
Southwest Airlines has expanded its legal complaint against San Antonio, accusing airport officials of employing “bait and switch” tactics by rushing City Council approval of the new airport use agreement with only $200 million allocated for Terminal A renovations. The airline claims this amount is “woefully inadequate” despite its “strenuous objections.”
Southwest’s attorneys argue this maneuver left the airline “powerless” to modify the agreement without consent from other carriers, effectively solidifying the lease terms. The complaint highlights the financial disadvantage Southwest faces as non-signatory airlines must pay premium rates compared to those who signed the agreement.
The lawsuit points out that airport fees, calculated based on landings and takeoffs, mean carriers with the most flights pay the highest fees. These fees fund capital improvements like the new $1.4 billion terminal. Southwest objects to paying the largest share for a terminal where it has been denied gate assignments.
In its legal filing, Southwest asks the court to invalidate the lease agreements under the Airline Deregulation Act. The court has scheduled preliminary hearings for April 23, 24, and 30 to address the case.
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