The Trump administration on Friday dropped a lawsuit brought against Southwest Airlines by former President Biden's Transportation Department (DOT) alleging it advertised unrealistic flight schedules. The Justice Departmentfiled a motionto dismiss the case in the U.S. District Court for Northern California after the Biden administration accused Southwest of knowingly marketing flights with impractical schedules despite chronic delays in 2022. Southwest applauded the administration's decision on Friday evening, chalking up the delays in question to challenges associated with the pandemic. "We appreciate the DOT's decision to abandon its lawsuit against Southwest, which we believe is the correct result in this case," a spokesperson for the airline told the Hill. The lawsuit, filed just five days before Biden left office on Jan. 20, focused on two specific flights: one between Baltimore, Md. and Cleveland, Ohio and another between Chicago and Oakland, Calif. "The two flights at issue occurred years ago when the industry faced unprecedented challenges from the COVID-19 pandemic and were delayed due to issues outside of Southwest's control in numerous cases," the spokesperson added, noting Southwest has made "significant investments" to improve operations since 2022. Reutersreportedin March that the Trump administration was engaged in talks with Southwest to resolve the suit, which sought maximum penalties. The lawsuit's dismissal comes as air travel has been inthe spotlightin recent months, particularly oversafety concernsafter a handful of deadly crashes and a national air traffic controller shortage. Since Trump returned to Washington earlier this year, the administration has sought to fixoutdated air traffic control systemsand address theshortage of controllers. The Transportation Department did not immediately respond to The Hill's request for comment. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.