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Wright Amendment

idunno

By idunno
in Dallas - Fort Worth

Should Congress repeal the Wright Amendment?  

27 members have voted

  1. 1. Should Congress repeal the Wright Amendment?

    • Yes
      20
    • No
      7

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txstate25 Unincorporated Area

txstate25

Posted
Posted

Southwest has always had the Freedom to Fly anywhere from DFW. Why are they so insitent on retainin their monopoly at Love? Sure, they can argue convenience to Dallas, fast turn around of their aircraft and their business model is different.

To me the bottom line is this: Southwest wants a monoply at Love.

Good for American to compete at Love with Southwest..

Eventually, the Wright Amement will fallor will be further modified to resemble the restictions at Washingon Natinal or La Guardia.

Good, well lets hope that day comes sooner rather than later. I happen to ENJOY Southwest Airlines and everything it represents. DON'T forget that the former CEO of Southwest Airlines was once a lawyer himself and a very successful one too. I pretty sure he knows all the legalities of the issues surrounding the true intention of the Wright Amendent it's effect in the DFW area. With all dew respect let me remind you that American Airlines controls 84% of the 166 gates at DFW if that's not monoply what is? As far as DFW period. City officals from Dallas should have come up with a better plan for such a massive HUB knowing that a majority of their costomers lived closer to Dallas.

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UrbanLifter Whistle-Stop

UrbanLifter

Posted
Posted

Good, well lets hope that day comes sooner rather than later. I happen to ENJOY Southwest Airlines and everything it represents. DON'T forget that the former CEO of Southwest Airlines was once a lawyer himself and a very successful one too. I pretty sure he knows all the legalities of the issues surrounding the true intention of the Wright Amendent it's effect in the DFW area. With all dew respect let me remind you that American Airlines controls 84% of the 166 gates at DFW if that's not monoply what is? As far as DFW period. City officals from Dallas should have come up with a better plan for such a massive HUB knowing that a majority of their costomers lived closer to Dallas.

I enjoy Souhwest as well and yes, Love Field is rather convenient. I have flown many times from Love Field to Hobby, Austin, SAT and others.

DFW was conceived in the early 60's. Both cities (Dallas and Ft Worth) had competing airports with the Love Field being more popular. DFW was federally mandated as the Feds would not agree to fund two new airports in the Region. The location of DFW was a compromise and quite a perfect one as it stradles the Tarrant - Dallas County lines.

DFW has contributed to the economy of the Region far beyond the imagination of the most visionary planners. At the time DFW was dsigned and built, Hub airports did not exist.

When DFW was planned and under construction, Southwest did not exist. Southwest came into existence in the last days of Love Field. Dallas and Ft Worth had agreements with all the airlines at both Love Field and Greater Southwest (FT Worth) to move all operations to DFW. The cities did not get the signed agreement from Southwest as they assumed the start-up airline would naturally move operations to DFW.

Southwest did not move.

Can the Metroplex support two airports? Sure. Houston certainly does although the airports in Houston are on opposite extremes of each other.

IMO, the Metroplex is far better served by one airport which is the original intent of DFW.

That will never happen and ultimately Love will be opened to flights to all states. It will happen slowly. Most likely, the first restriction to be eased will permit through ticketing. That means the passenger will have to chang planes in one of the currently permitted states (LA, TX, NM, MO, AL, MS, OK, AR. Watch for TN to be added to this list.

Also under discussion is the possibility of limited gate space at Love to mitigate the harm to the local neighborhoods.

Love Deal Hinges On Gates

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swmdal Crossroads

swmdal

Posted
Posted

At the time DFW was dsigned and built, Hub airports did not exist.

This is not quite accurate. Delta is generally credited with having created the country's first modern hub-and-spoke operation at Atlanta Hartsfield in the 1960s, and Chicago O'Hare was largely a hub for United by that time as well. Even Love Field offered many connections via Braniff, which brought passengers in from smaller cities such as Wichita Falls on piston planes and transferred them to jets. So DFW's chest-thumping about being the first hub airport rings a bit hollow.

Every metro area the size of Dallas-Fort Worth with the exception of Atlanta has at least two passenger airports. In most cases, all the airports thrive on their own particular markets. The people of the DFW area--and yes, people from Fort Worth do sometimes drive over and fly Southwest--have shown that they want service from Love Field by their patronage. Let market forces determine how the DFW-Love Field arrangement shakes out, not politicians.

DFW has done a lot of good economically, but both Dallas and Fort Worth were booming long before DFW was built.

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txstate25 Unincorporated Area

txstate25

Posted
Posted

So is there really any chance that the Wright Amendment is lifted in the near future??

I think that it will be....because some flights are now allowed to St. Louis and Kansas City from Love Field. These are steps in the right direction. I think once there is a momentum started it will be hard to stop!! Your Free to move about the country. Eventually.

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Aporkalypse City

Aporkalypse

Posted
Posted

Sounds like government interfering where it shouldn't to me. Having been to DFW airport a few times, I have no wish to go back, as it's an awful place to navigate. I'd just as soon fly on Southwest when I visit California and skip this whole DFW airport thing.

I like DFW. I think the separate terminals make getting in and out easy and straightforward. I fly AirTran in Terminal E a lot and I can park by the door and walk right in. When I return, the baggage claim is just right there and I can go from deplaning to 635 in 20-25 min. You can't beat that. Try Atlanta, which is just a nightmare to fly out of, though it's a better place to connect to.

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UrbanLifter Whistle-Stop

UrbanLifter

Posted
Posted

Just last weekend, I flew from San Diego to Boston and changed planes at DFW. The new Sky Train is awesome. Now, going from terminal to teminal is a breeze. Plus, you can't beat the view of the airfield and the entire airport from the trains.

True, driving into to DFW and navigating the roads, ramps and parking decks can be a challenge. Once you know the lay of the land and where you need to be, its not so bad. Because the terminals layout, the traffic congestion is spread out over four terminals instead of concentrated at one central facility.

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FromCityToRural Hamlet

FromCityToRural

Posted
Posted

I like DFW. I think the separate terminals make getting in and out easy and straightforward. I fly AirTran in Terminal E a lot and I can park by the door and walk right in. When I return, the baggage claim is just right there and I can go from deplaning to 635 in 20-25 min. You can't beat that. Try Atlanta, which is just a nightmare to fly out of, though it's a better place to connect to.

I can see why the design in theory would be advantageous that way, but I have driven it a couple times myself, and ridden with my parents in there - a total of maybe 6 or 8 times - and none of us find it terribly easy to drive. The terminal offramps kinda sneak up on you. We always dread going there.

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UrbanLifter Whistle-Stop

UrbanLifter

Posted
Posted

Exactly. The original design theory was that a traveler could park near the gate and have a short walk to the ticket counter and gate. The terminals themselves are not deep at all. The design predated the evolution to hub airports.

The road infrastructure is a maze of off ramps and interchanges and yes, is very confusing if one is not a frequent user. And if you are flying American, you have to know which gate and terminal your flight is departing from before one arrives at the airport. American now dominates four of the six terminals. The off ramps from International Parkway are all left exits which is further confusing and they come quick.

I remember the huge changeable message signs that American installed with the departure city and gate. There was one for each terminal. I thought they were awesome; however, there were several accidents and subsequent lawsuits that led to their removal.

When I changed planes two weeks ago, it was easy to see that the former Delta Terminal (E) is dead and lifeless. What a shame! I am flying back to San Diego in two weeks. I compared flights on American, US Air and Delta not only for price but for connectivity as well. My opinion: Delta lost a lot of connectivity when they pulled the plug on a mid-continent hub.

As to the relation of this topic to the original thread: DFW offered oustanding incentives to Southwest (and other airlines) to occupy the former Delta terminal. Southwest has no desire to move their operations to DFW even though they could fly to all states from DFW.

Why do they insist upon staying at Love? One reason: Quicker turn around times for flights. Southwest turns around flights in 20 minutes. Just taxing from the runway to gate at DFW can take that long.

Also it is their nature to buck the trend. They do not want to be seen as giving in. Southwest will fight to keep and expand operations at Love.

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UrbanLifter Whistle-Stop

UrbanLifter

Posted
Posted

Dallas Mayor Laura Miller and Ft Worth Mayor Mike Moncrief sign an accord to end the long time dispute between Love Field, DFW, Southwest and American Airlines.

For details see this article on the Dallas Morning News.

Highlights of the accord:

  • Southwest can beging immediate through ticketing a long as the passenger changes planes in a Wright State

    • After 8 years, no further restrictions on non-stop flights at Love Field. (Can fly non-stop beyond the Wright states)

    [*]Love Field gates capped at 20. 16 for Southwest, 2 for Continental and 2 for American

    [*]Upgrades of $150 to $200 Million to Love Field

    [*]Noise Curfew from 11 PM to AM (Protection for neighborhoods)

    [*]No new commerical air service at any airport within 80 miles of Love Field

    [*]Southwest gives up gate space at Love Field if they start service at any other airport in the area

    [*]All subject to Congress lifitng or modifying the Wright Amendment

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UrbanLifter Whistle-Stop

UrbanLifter

Posted
Posted

Senate and Congressional Leaders from the area(s) (Dallas and Ft Worth and Texas) made an accord with themeves and other congressional members to postpone legislation and give the "Region" time to craft a local solution to a nagging 30 plus year problem. They basically said come up with your own solution or live with whatever gets passed down in Congress.

That could have ranged from an entire lifting of the Wright Amendment (bad for American, Ft Worth and the Love Field Neighborhoods) to possibly the closing of Love Field (bad for Southwest) to anything in between.

As I understand it, there is no issue getting Congress to agree now that Dallas, Ft Worth, DFW AIrport, Southwest Airlines and American Airlines have reached this accord. Why did they agree? Because it was better to come to the table and get some protection for their individual issues than risk a solution that considers none.

Its pretty amazing giving the rivalries between the two cities, two airports, two airlines. The entire debate over Love Field vs DFW goes a lot further than a decison over one or two airports.

Its kinda like a teenager. Looks simple yet so its complex, deep, emotional and full of issues.

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