US will give runway rights at NJ airport to a budget airline

WASHINGTON (AP) — A budget airline will get a chance to add flights at the busy airport in Newark, New Jersey, just outside New York City. The Transportation Department said Thursday that it will give coveted afternoon and evening runway rights to a low-cost airline. The takeoff and landing rights were previously used by Southwest Airlines, which pulled out of Newark in 2019. The Transportation Department decision follows a federal court ruling that went against the Federal Aviation Administration, which is part of the Transportation Department. Spirit Airlines wants the old Southwest runway rights, and it sued the FAA when the agency planned to eliminate them rather than award them to another airline.