Love Field Operators To Be Free Of Restrictions -- In Eight
Years
A long-standing law
restricting non-stop, long-distance flights to and from Dallas'
Love Field may finally fade away -- if President Bush signs a
compromise bill which passed Congress on Friday.
The Wright Amendment, enacted in 1979, was intended to generate
growth at the Dallas-Fort Worth International airport. The
agreement limits flights to and from Love Field to airports in New
Mexico, Oklahoma, Kansas, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama
and Missouri.
Southwest's customers wishing to fly from Love Field must
purchase a ticket to an airport in one of those states, then
another from there to their final destination. Southwest's
customers have been paying for the use of Love Field in cash, time
for a layover and the inconvenience of booking a second flight.
For some time now, Southwest has argued the growth intended by
the original law has occurred, and it's time to eliminate
artificial constraints on competition.
American has strenuously resisted Southwest's attempts to have
the law repealed. Since the Wright Agreement went into effect,
Southwest has become one of American Airlines' biggest
competitors.
The bill now before President Bush is a compromise. If signed
into law, it would eliminate provisions of the Wright Agreement
restricting flights to and from Love in place for another eight
years. It would also eliminate the requirement for customers to
purchase two tickets; flights will still connect thru another
airport, but like other airlines selling tickets with connecting
flights, passengers will only have to book one flight.
Additionally, the law reduces the number of gates at Love from
32 to 20 -- the lion's share of the remainder will go to Southwest,
with American and Continental getting a few.
City officials cited noise and safety as their reasons for
wanting to limit Love Field to only 20 gates. Presumably fewer
gates would mean fewer flights over the city. Those gates, at the
old Legend terminal, are currently unused -- Southwest's 737s can't
use them.
Several other airlines, particularly JetBlue, vehemently opposed
the reduction in gates at Love, citing anti-trust concerns. Between
the gate reduction... and language in the original bill giving
Southwest, American and Continental -- as well as the cities of
Dallas and Fort Worth -- broad protection from anti-trust
lawsuits... carriers left out in the cold cried foul.
The anti-trust wording, while not eliminated in the bill sent to
President Bush, was severely watered down in eleventh-hour
wrangling among lawmakers. Congressmen left what they called
"adequate" legal protections for the parties.
How adequate remains to be seen... as the agreement, even if
signed into law, likely has not seen its last legal
challenges.
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