Southwest Airlines on Wednesday said it was considering bidding for some assets of US Airways which is slated to be bought by America West.

America West's proposed takeover of bankrupt US Airways, announced last month, would create the sixth-largest domestic airline and a leading discount carrier rivaling Southwest.

"We're going to keep all of our options at this point," Southwest Chief Executive Gary Kelly said. "I wouldn't discount the thought of making a bid."

But he made clear that Southwest's interest would be in some of US Airways' gates -- in particular at the Philadelphia airport where Southwest is having trouble finding space to expand -- rather than the whole airline.

The bankruptcy judge overseeing US Airways' Chapter 11 case has authorized the airline to consider any bids that would rival the proposed America West deal. So far, the proposal by America West and a group of investors is the only one that has been negotiated.

Kelly said he was not worried about potential competition from the combined US Airways and America West, though he still hopes the tie-up could result in a reduction in excess capacity in the loss-plagued US airline system.

"While we enjoy a very large cost advantage with respect to both of those carriers... I am hopeful that the acquisition results in some reduction of capacity," he said.

Southwest, the top US airline by market value, is one of the industry's few money makers, thanks largely to investments it has made that have protected it from soaring fuel prices.