If UAL didn't want to compete with you, then why did they actively lobby the DOJ to intervene and gain the extra bilateral rights?! You got what you wanted. UAL was in favor of you getting the rights. Read the facts guys. You've got no defense on this. None!! You're both completely full of crap on this, and honestly I think you need to retract and apologize for these two misleading and somewhat slanderous posts.
Well, my guess would be that United lobbied for "extra bilateral rights," because they could see the writing on the wall.... That would be the writing where the Mexican authorities stated that they were likely to grant Southwest's request and give them one of United's two route authorities. Looks like the Mexicans
also wanted some other airline to compete with United. Remember, you guys had
both available route authorities for
one company's flying, which prevented any competition in the slightest. But that's the way you like it, right?--not having to compete with anyone else.
Your both acting pissy about this. And it makes pretty clear that you were a lot less interested in the work and the chance to compete, than you were in seeing something taken from a legacy, and handed to SWA.
That's pretty funny, considering that you literally wrote the book on "pissy." You and your airline spend a considerable amount of time and money trying to limit/delay/screw over Southwest, and generally to keep from having to compete with Southwest, when they should be expending that effort in running your own damn business.
And doing this IS working and competing--head to head competition with
you. How are we supposed to "work and compete," when your airline locks up all the available authority to prevent having any actual competition? Wanna' explain that to us?
My thought is this: SWA wanted to steal something from an airline already doing it, to not only knock out a competitor and take their passengers, but it would also allow them to not involve Mexico's aviation authorities. Now that SWA has taken a favor, when Mexico takes issue with the lack of gates at Hobby, SWA and the city of Houston are going to owe them a favor. And I think what they're going to want is accommodation at the SWA owned gates, when the single common use isn't available.
Your thought is wrong. The Mexican authorities are the final arbiter on who gets to fly there, and they were already directly involved. They indicated that they wanted Southwest to have route authority, and you can bet your bottom dollar that's the ONLY reason that United would ask them to just add supplemental rights.
Bubba