Southwest Airlines has taken another regulatory step as it seeks to implement a codeshare agreement with Canadian carrier WestJet.
Southwest late Monday said it had submitted an application to the U.S. Department of Transportation to acquire the required international route authority.
The application for a certificate to provide foreign air transportation is needed before Dallas-based Southwest Airlines can fully implement the previously announced codeshare deal.
Codesharing allows airlines to sell seats on each other's flights. Southwest has formed a similar alliance with Volaris in Mexico.
Southwest says it hopes to receive the route authority in the first quarter of 2009 and announce codeshare flight schedules with WestJet a few months later. ------
