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A DOT administrative law judge ruled in favor of Alaska Airlines (which filed on behalf of itself and Horizon Air) and the six other airlines that filed a joint complaint in February against huge terminal-charge increases imposed by Los Angeles International Airport on Feb. 1. The secretary of transportation will issue a final decision on this matter by June 15.

AirTran Airways, Alaska Airlines, ATA Airlines, Frontier Airlines, Midwest Airlines, Southwest Airlines, and US Airways Group issued the following statement regarding today’s ruling:

“We are gratified by today’s recommended decision in favor of the airlines serving Terminals 1 and 3 at LAX. The administrative law judge’s ruling upholds clear and longstanding principles of law that are designed to protect consumers and air carriers from excessive, unreasonable, and discriminatory payments for the use of an essential public facility.

"It is unfortunate that Los Angeles World Airports (LAWA) once again compelled the airlines to initiate expensive and time-consuming legal proceedings before the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) in order to protect our customers, employees and shareholders from LAWA’s egregious actions.”