FAA faces criticism over slot allocation process at Washington National Airport

American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, United Airlines, Southwest Airlines, and JetBlue Airways are identified as incumbents with significant presence. United requested another Washington National to San Francisco flight despite already having one such route alongside Alaska Airlines. JetBlue seeks a second San Juan flight.

American will secure their San Antonio non-stop route, which influenced Senator Ted Cruz's support for these slots initially. Frontier Airlines also expressed interest in flying from National Airport to San Juan but was declared ineligible by the FAA based on their interpretation of "limited incumbent" status.

The FAA defines a limited incumbent as an airline that has operated at the airport since December 16, 1985, and holds fewer than 12 slots there. Exemption slots do not count towards this total. Frontier argues they meet these criteria since they only hold exemption slots and have been operating at the airport since 1985.

Alaska Airlines proposes a route to San Diego, while Spirit wants to fly to San Jose. Delta seeks another Seattle flight to compete with Alaska’s existing routes. Southwest aims for Las Vegas to compete with American’s service.

The allocation process remains complex due to Congress's involvement in determining which airlines receive these slots based on lobbying efforts and political interests.