"New law lifts limit on Dallas flights"

Saturday, October 14, 2006

New law lifts limit on Dallas flights
Repeal of curb gives Southwest more access
By Meredith Cohn
The Baltimore (MD) Sun


President Bush signed legislation yesterday that frees Southwest Airlines to
sell flights to Dallas' Love Field from its big hubs, such as Baltimore,
with connections to smaller airports beyond Texas' neighboring states. 

The new law repeals the Wright Amendment, a 27-year-old limitation on Love
Field operations that was adopted to boost the fortunes of Dallas-Fort Worth
International Airport eight miles away. 

It had been hampering the growth of Southwest, which has its headquarters at
Love Field. Supporters say its repeal, which the discount giant had sought
for years, will mean more choices for travelers to and from Dallas, and
possibly lower fares. 

Once the Federal Aviation Administration signs off on the legislation,
travelers from the East Coast and other distant places will no longer have
to buy two tickets to get to Love Field. They still will have to make a stop
each way in one of nine states for the next eight years, as part of a
compromise crafted to win over the Texas congressional delegation, the
airports and the airlines. In 2014, airlines may begin offering direct
flights. 

The airline did not provide specifics yesterday on how service will change.
That's to come within days of the FAA ruling on whether it can safely handle
flight changes in Texas, said Southwest spokeswoman Whitney Eichinger. 

"Once we have final approval, we'll be able to expose our customer to more
Southwest destinations on a one-stop basis," she said. "We'll have a number
of flights to start and we look forward to growing future schedules." 

Eichinger noted that Baltimore passengers can expect some fare specials, in
addition to savings from paying taxes and fees on only one ticket to Love
Field. 

The Wright Amendment was designed to maintain Love Field as a regional
airport only, so passengers had to buy one flight to a neighboring airport
and then buy a separate ticket to Love Field. 

But aside from those specials, the impact on East Coast travelers may not be
that great, at least initially, according to a fare watcher and Southwest's
biggest rival in Dallas, American Airlines. 

Tom Parsons, chief executive of Bestfares.com, an online fare finder, said
Washington and Baltimore airports already have a choice of low-fare carriers
that can get passengers most places, including Dallas-Fort Worth, for $218
or less. 

The Southwest fares to Love Field will probably be in the $158 to $218
range, he said. 

"Many cities would love to have Baltimore and Washington's problem of a lot
of discount service," he said. 

"That said, it never hurts to have another competitor on popular routes. It
makes the U.S.A. a little bit smaller and still a little bit cheaper,"
Parsons said. 

Competitor's views 

A spokesman for American, which has a hub at Dallas-Fort Worth many times
the size of Southwest's Love Field operation, said he expected the move will
have some impact on American's Texas customer base the most because Love
Field is closer to downtown Dallas and may become the choice of many
travelers.
 
American, as well as Continental Airlines, also offer a small number of
flights from Love Field and will no longer be subject to the Wright
Amendment under the compromise agreement - which reduces gates at Love
Field, limits hours of operation and bans international flights. 

But Tim Wagner, an American spokesman, said little would change for the
airline's East Coast customers. 

Wagner said the carrier expects that most travelers from Baltimore and
elsewhere will still want the convenience of direct flights to Dallas-Fort
Worth rather than flights to Love Field on any airline. 

Convenience 

"For people who choose to fly on American Airlines from the East Coast,
really the only thing that will change is that you'll be able to go to an
airport eight miles from Dallas-Fort Worth," Wagner said. "And you'll have
to make a stop somewhere like St. Louis on the way." 

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