denizen467--
Quote:
Once upon a time (1980s, 1990s), DFW was the big competitor to ORD. But the last decade it's clearly been ATL and ORD. Lately there's been very little heard about DFW as a contender.
What happened? Love Field?
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The history of Love Field is quite interesting. This is from a paper I wrote for a Transportation Law course about perimeter rules (Reagan-National, LaGuardia, Love Field) that restrict competition and service at these airports.
"The purpose of the Wright Amendment, which is essentially a highly-restrictive perimeter rule, was to protect the newly-built Dallas/Forth Worth International Airport (DFW). In the 1960s, recently-created Southwest Airlines sought to offer flights out of Love Field, which was owned by the City of Dallas. This conflicted with the goal of the cities of Dallas and Fort Worth to transfer service to the new DFW, a larger regional airport. Southwest, however, had other intentions, and began offering service between Love Field and Houston and San Antonio. The decision by Southwest to offer service from Love Field resulted in protracted litigation between the carrier and the cities of Dallas and Forth Worth but the Civil Aeronautics Board ultimately allowed Southwest to offer flights to destinations in Texas and neighboring states from Love Field.
As a result of the CAB decision, “DFW supporters turned to House Speaker Jim Wright (D-Texas) to attach an amendment to that bill [H.R.5481] protecting DFW from competition at Love Field.” The measure proposed by Congressman Wright was draconian in its reach, “banning any airline from engaging in interstate air commerce from Love Field.” This was too much for the Senate to accept and subsequent compromise led to the Wright Amendment in 1980. In the years since, the Shelby Amendment has added Alabama, Kansas, and Mississippi to the states served by Southwest from Love Field. Even with these added destinations, Southwest still bristled at the restrictions caused by the Wright Amendment. As a result, in 2005, “Dallas-area congressmen Sam Johnson (R-Texas) and Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas) introduced legislation, the Right to Fly Act, to repeal the Wright Amendment.” The proposed legislation eventually led to a compromise between American Airlines (the dominant carrier at DFW), Southwest, and the Cities of Dallas and Forth Worth."
Love Field is currently seeking to modernize and expand its terminals and add new gates. An article in the Dallas Morning News about the project notes the Wright Amendment will sunset in 2014 (
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcont...d.3e8a922.html)