the agreement between DL and WN, likely influenced by the judge, allows DL to stay as long as it takes to decide the case. DL is simply asking for a judicial ruling to that effect.
There will be no more gates at DAL anytime in the near future which simply means that all parties have to live with the current letter of the law and that WN will have to live with a smaller size than it otherwise would like.
But it will be WN, not any other party that has to pull back to accommodate competition.
The only conflict that exists is in the mind of those who don't understand that the DOT is more than capable of understanding all of the legal requirements and interpreting all in a balance that still allows WN to have 80% of the gates at an airport as large as DAL.
Given that WN pitched a royal fit about getting access to DCA and LGA where no legacy carrier has anywhere near close to what WN has at DAL, WN's own practice and what it was given will weigh against WN's arguments.
and the key part of the whole discussion is that DL understood the airport access laws which DAL or WN is not exempt from, filed an accommodation request that completely confirms with every requirement, and WN was not fully utilizing its gates at the time of DL's accommodation requests.
again, the judge could throw it all out but it would come at the cost of other carriers being able to dominate whatever airport they want and exclude the competition in the process.
and if anyone can't realize that airports like LGA are very much in exactly the same position as DAL, then whatever WN thinks it is getting at DAL would more than backfire elsewhere.
There simply is no way that a judge is going to allow airport facilities to be used to lock out competitors, DAL won't be an exception, and the DOT's accommodation process will be upheld as the best system to ensure competition given existing facilities.
WN made a strategic mistake in acquiring gates not once but twice and thinking they could hold onto them for future growth while DL knew the process and requirements for entry and met them.