Source: Bloomberg News

Southwest Airlines Co. won U.S. permission to keep letting flight attendants leave planes to perform other duties as jets load and unload, helping the carrier avoid cost increases.

Attendants can do work such as escorting children and helping travelers in wheelchairs between connecting flights, the Federal Aviation Administration said. The decision reversed an FAA manager's April 2006 directive that all three attendants on each flight had to stay on board.

AMR Corp.'s American Airlines, Delta Air Lines Inc., US Airways Group Inc. and AirTran Holdings Inc. backed Southwest's request, saying they wanted to adopt the practice. Southwest said in September its attendants continued to leave their planes while it appealed the FAA's initial decision.

Southwest, the largest U.S. low-fare airline, wants to keep its jets' average stay at gates between flights at 25 minutes, a key to the company's profit. Losing the appeal would have lengthened ground times, raised costs and required higher fares, the Dallas-based carrier said.

Two attendants would be able to leave the plane while passengers exit, and one could be away during boarding, under the FAA decision posted July 6 in Washington.

The industry's largest flight attendant and pilot unions, the Association of Flight Attendants and Air Line Pilots Association, opposed the appeal. The Southwest Airlines Pilots Association and the Transport Workers Union, which represents the airline's attendants, backed the carrier's request.