Trump administration drops Biden-era lawsuit against Southwest Airlines

The Trump administration on Friday dropped a lawsuit brought against Southwest Airlines by former President Biden's Transportation Department (DOT) alleging it advertised unrealistic flight schedules.

The Justice Department filed a motion to dismiss the case in the U.S. District Court for Northern California after the Biden administration accused Southwest of knowingly marketing flights with impractical schedules despite chronic delays in 2022.

Southwest applauded the administration's decision on Friday evening, chalking up the delays in question to challenges associated with the pandemic. 

“We appreciate the DOT’s decision to abandon its lawsuit against Southwest, which we believe is the correct result in this case,” a spokesperson for the airline told the Hill. 

The lawsuit, filed just five days before Biden left office on Jan. 20, focused on two specific flights: one between Baltimore, Md. and Cleveland, Ohio and another between Chicago and Oakland, Calif.

“The two flights at issue occurred years ago when the industry faced unprecedented challenges from the COVID-19 pandemic and were delayed due to issues outside of Southwest’s control in numerous cases,” the spokesperson added, noting Southwest has made “significant investments” to improve operations since 2022.  

Reuters reported in March that the Trump administration was engaged in talks with Southwest to resolve the suit, which sought maximum penalties. 

The lawsuit’s dismissal comes as air travel has been in the spotlight in recent months, particularly over safety concerns after a handful of deadly crashes and a national air traffic controller shortage. 

Since Trump returned to Washington earlier this year, the administration has sought to fix outdated air traffic control systems and address the shortage of controllers.

The Transportation Department did not immediately respond to The Hill’s request for comment.