Originally that merger was blocked too but was settled with concessions. American gave up not only US Airways LGA slots but also some of its own slots at LGA to LCCs. I used to think that was crazy given that Delta had more slots in LGA than American plus US Airways. American was giving up so much but American was desperate to get the merger approved that it conceded it.

JetBlue thought eliminating a ULCC could be handled by concessions, and why not offer least first before the lawsuit. But, when it offered minimal concessions initially, JetBlue seemed brash. It was blocked and then JetBlue offered more concessions, including the ones at EWR and BOS, a deal later made with Allegiant etc.. I kind of wonder if JetBlue off the bat offered to give up slots/gates at all of these airports, would it shaped the deal differently before the lawsuit was started.

Anyways, this was likely a blessing in hindsight.