PhilDernerJr
2005-08-02, 04:29 AM
The Wright Amendment is a federal law made in 1979 that limits flights from Dallas' Love Field to destination within Texas and its surrounding states.
Love is a "close-in" airport in Dallas, and is Southwest's headquarters, but they cannot flight transcontinental flights from there because of this legislation. Because of this, WN is trying to repeal the law.
American Airlines feels threatened because Southwest having the chance to fly all over the country from Dallas will give them a run for their money, literally, since flights out of Dallas-Fort Worth are extremely expensive.
Though the Mayor of Dallas, Laura Miller, is on the board of DFW, but is considering sponsoring and repeal because she sees how much the expensive flights into DFW limit business opportunities in the city.
Personally, the law reminds me a lot of the Perimeter Rule that we have here in New York that limits LGA flights to 1,500 miles as a way to spread out the route system and give JFK its fair share of transcontinental flights. Some years ago, Delta went to Congress to change the Perimeter Rule so they could fly to their hub in Salt Lake City, but lost.
Southwest was also offered Delta's old setup at DFW, but they turned it down, claiming it was not worth moving having massive operations at two airports in one city.
On the other hand, I think the American should be offering more competitive prices, and I think that maybe repealing this law would be very fair to the people of Dallas. I love American, but welcome to Capitalism. The industry is doing bad and I think at least one airline, maybe two, is going to have to drop before we see significant improvements.
Love is a "close-in" airport in Dallas, and is Southwest's headquarters, but they cannot flight transcontinental flights from there because of this legislation. Because of this, WN is trying to repeal the law.
American Airlines feels threatened because Southwest having the chance to fly all over the country from Dallas will give them a run for their money, literally, since flights out of Dallas-Fort Worth are extremely expensive.
Though the Mayor of Dallas, Laura Miller, is on the board of DFW, but is considering sponsoring and repeal because she sees how much the expensive flights into DFW limit business opportunities in the city.
Personally, the law reminds me a lot of the Perimeter Rule that we have here in New York that limits LGA flights to 1,500 miles as a way to spread out the route system and give JFK its fair share of transcontinental flights. Some years ago, Delta went to Congress to change the Perimeter Rule so they could fly to their hub in Salt Lake City, but lost.
Southwest was also offered Delta's old setup at DFW, but they turned it down, claiming it was not worth moving having massive operations at two airports in one city.
On the other hand, I think the American should be offering more competitive prices, and I think that maybe repealing this law would be very fair to the people of Dallas. I love American, but welcome to Capitalism. The industry is doing bad and I think at least one airline, maybe two, is going to have to drop before we see significant improvements.