United Fights to Quash Uppity Southwest in Houston

(photo: MichaelB in Houston via flickr/creative commons)

Remember Freddie Laker? Sorry to tell you some of us at Transportation Nation do. At least one of us flew New York to London for something under $100 bucks while in college. But the no-frills airline entrepreneur went belly-up as the big airlines, with deeper pockets, were able to reduce their fares until he gasped for air.

The latest iteration of this struggle is happening in Houston, where Southwest Airlines is trying to get permission to fly international flights to a smaller, closer-in airport -- with United pulling out the big guns to beat back that effort.

Our Gail Delaughter, of KUHF,  has the story, on Marketplace.