"Southwest hints of changes in store"

Saturday, November 13, 2004
 
Southwest hints of changes in store
CEO sees limits on Love Field flights as detrimental to growth 
The Associated Press


DALLAS (AP) - Southwest Airlines Co., once officially neutral on a federal
law that limits its service from Dallas, is edging toward outright
opposition to the restrictions it faces at its home airport.

Southwest chief executive Gary Kelly said Friday that an effort by Tennessee
lawmakers to change the law and allow direct flights from Love Field to
Nashville could help the small airport near downtown Dallas grow.

Kelly's comments could put Southwest on a collision course with American
Airlines, which said it opposes any change in a 1979 federal law designed to
protect sprawling Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, where American is
the dominant carrier.

The federal law blocks Southwest from flying its Boeing 737 jets between
Love Field and anywhere beyond Texas and seven nearby states.

"It's anticompetitive. That's its purpose," Kelly said.

The law was passed when DFW was a new facility on open prairie 20 miles from
downtown Dallas. It has spawned several lawsuits over the years. Kelly said
the law, named after former House Speaker Jim Wright of Fort Worth, is no
longer needed because DFW is a booming hub for American Airlines, a unit of
AMR Corp.

Kelly said DFW is now one of the strongest fortress hubs in the airline
industry, with American and its sister airline, American Eagle, operating
more than 700 daily departures there. Evidence of American's strength, Kelly
said, can be found in Delta Air Lines Inc.'s recent decision to kill its DFW
hub, cutting more than 200 daily flights and leaving only a handful of
remaining flights.

Southwest could get around the Love Field restrictions by offering long-haul
flights from DFW itself, but Kelly ruled that out Friday.

In September, Tennessee representatives in the U.S. House proposed adding
their state to the list of approved Love Field destinations, which would
clear the way for Southwest to add direct flights between Dallas and
Nashville.

The bill was pushed by business leaders in tourism-dependent Nashville, who
acted after American reduced service to Nashville. Kelly said Southwest had
nothing to do with the proposal and hasn't lobbied for its passage, but he
added that law is outdated, and he predicted lawmakers from states other
than Tennessee might also seek to weaken the 1979 law.

The Tennessee proposal faces an uncertain fate in Congress. Sen. Kay Bailey
Hutchison, R-Texas, has indicated skepticism, saying that Delta's retreat
from DFW could harm the big airport.

American, a unit of AMR Corp., has eight daily flights from DFW to
Nashville. American hadn't taken a position on the Nashville proposal until
Kelly's comments.

"The Wright Amendment helps preserve DFW's position as the principle
aviation gateway for North Texas ... (it) made sense when it was passed and
it makes sense now," said Tim Wagner, a spokesman for American. He said
weakening the law would undermine DFW and hurt the Dallas-Fort Worth
economy.

Kevin Cox, chief operating officer at DFW, said the airport would fight any
attempt to weaken the Wright Amendment. He accused Kelly of trying to scare
off would-be competitors who might try to pick up Delta's gates at DFW.


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