LINTHICUM, MD. (AP) -- The largest passenger airline at Baltimore's principal airport says it is negotiating with the Maryland Aviation Administration to give up some of its boarding gates.

Southwest Airlines controls more than two dozen gates at Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport.

A Southwest spokeswoman tells WBAL-AM radio that the airline has set no timetable for the givebacks, and she would not be more specific about how many gates the airline is looking to shed.

She says the givebacks are part of what she says is an effort to "optimize operations," and not an attempt by Southwest to reduce its footprint at BWI.

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