United, Continental Agree to Lease Newark Slots to Southwest

United, Continental Agree to Lease Newark Slots to Southwest

United Airlines and Continental Airlines said that they have reached agreements to lease 18 pairs of take-off and landing slots (roundtrip flights) during peak and off-peak travel times and certain related facilities to Southwest Airlines at Newark Liberty International Airport. The agreement is intended to address United States Department of Justice concerns related to Continental’s proposed merger with United.

Continental and United currently operate 442 daily roundtrip flights into and out of Newark Liberty. The leasing of the first of the 18 daily slot pairs will begin in late March 2011 and the leasing arrangement will be fully implemented in June 2011.

United and Continental will continue to serve all the communities both airlines currently serve. Since the slot pair transfer is expected to have minimal impact on combined carrier’s route network, United and Continental are not changing the previously announced synergy estimates of the merger.