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Wright Amendment

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The Wright Amendment of 1979 was a federal law which originally limited traffic from Dallas's Love Field airport to points within Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, Oklahoma, and New Mexico. In 1997, the Shelby Amendment modified the law to allow flights to the states of Alabama, Kansas, and Mississippi. In 2005, an amendment offered by Missouri Sen. Kit Bond opened that state to Love Field traffic as well.

Background

In the early 1970s, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) determined that Love Field in Dallas and Greater Southwest International Airport in Fort Worth, Texas were unsuitable for expected future air traffic demands, and the FAA refused to provide continued federal funding for the municipal airports. The Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) then ordered the cities of Dallas and Fort Worth to find a new site for a joint regional airport. The result was Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport (DFW International), which first opened to air traffic in 1973. To make the new airport viable, each city agreed to restrict its own passenger-service airports from commercial passenger service use, and all airlines serving the old airports at that time agreed to relocate.

Southwest Airlines, founded in 1971 and headquartered at Love Field, built its business on selling quick, no-frills trips between Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio. Southwest, which was founded after the agreement between the airlines and cities to relocate to DFW International was reached, was not a party to the agreement, and felt that their business model would be affected by a long drive to the new airport beyond the suburbs. Therefore, prior to the opening of DFW International, Southwest filed suit to remain at Love Field, claiming that no legal basis existed to close the airport to commercial service and that they were not bound by an agreement they did not sign. In 1973, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that, so long as Love Field remained open as an airport, the City of Dallas could not preclude Southwest from operating from the field. However, the ruling was in the pre-deregulated environment where the CAB did not have control of travel within a state, the type of service Southwest offered at the time.

When DFW International opened in 1974, every airline, except Southwest, moved to the new, larger airport. Southwest, however, remained at the older airport. With the drastic reduction in flights, Love Field decommissioned most of its concourses.

Passage of the Wright Amendment

After the deregulation of the U.S. airline industry in 1978, Southwest Airlines entered the larger passenger market with plans to start providing interstate service in 1979. This angered the City of Fort Worth, DFW International Airport, and Braniff International Airways which resented expanded air service at the airport within Dallas. To help protect DFW International Airport, Jim Wright, a Fort Worth congressman, sponsored and helped pass an amendment to an unrelated law in Congress which restricted passenger air traffic out of Love Field in the following ways:

  • Passenger service on regular mid-sized and large aircraft could only be provided from Love Field to locations within Texas and the four neighboring states (Louisiana, Arkansas, Oklahoma, and New Mexico). At the time, all of Southwest's destinations were included within this zone, hence the law had no immediate effect on Southwest's operations.
  • Long-haul service to other states was possible, but only on commuter aircraft with no more capacity than 56 passengers.

While the law deterred other major airlines from starting service out of Love Field, Southwest continued to expand as it used multiple short-haul flights to build its Love Field operation. This had the effect of increasing local traffic to non-Wright-Amendment-impacted airports such as Houston/Hobby Airport, the New Orleans Airport, and the El Paso and Albuquerque Airports. Although American Airlines is regarded as having benefitted greatly from the Wright Amendment, it played little or no role in the creation of the new law. American's headquarters were located in New York City until 1979, at which time it relocated them to Fort Worth. American's formation of its hub at DFW International Airport followed two years later in 1981.

Some people have managed to "work the system" and get around the Wright Amendment's restrictions. For example, a person could fly from Dallas to Houston or New Orleans, change planes, and then fly to any city Southwest served — although he or she had to do so on two tickets in each direction, as the Wright Amendment specifically bars airlines from issuing tickets that violate the law's provisions, or from informing customers that they can purchase multiple tickets that would allow this.

Repeal efforts

File:SetLoveFree.gif
Set Love Free campaign logo

In late 2004, Southwest Airlines announced its opposition to the Wright Amendment. Shortly thereafter, the company began trying to garner public support for the repeal of the Wright Amendment by launching a massive public relations campaign. Print media, the internet, billboards, and TV spots were all used, directing the viewer or reader to visit the Set Love Free website, created by Southwest Airlines. In response, a group opposed to the repeal of the amendment, spearheaded by the DFW Airport Board and American Airlines, launched their own media campaign directing visitors to their Keep DFW Strong site (DFW Airport has even painted advertising on one of its water tanks on the north side of DFW).

Critics of the amendment assert that the restrictions on long-haul travel from Dallas Love Field are anti-competitive. They ask for the "freedom to fly" from Love Field to any destination. They also argue that the restrictions on full use of Love Field artificially inflates fares at the DFW Airport. They believe that eliminating the amendment, and thus allowing any airline to fly long-haul service out of DAL, would allow the so-called "Southwest Effect" to occur, where new, inexpensive capacity will increase traffic at both airports (assuming that the market effect of low fares on flights into and out of Love Field will serve to drive down fares on corresponding routes at DFW); these projections are based upon historic results in other air travel markets in which low-fare carriers, most frequently, Southwest, have initiated service. Wright opponents also argue that DFW's main tenant, American Airlines, can charge high prices out of DFW because, with AA controlling in excess of 80% of air carrier traffic at DFW, there is little competition on most routes. (A problem which has recently been attributed to Delta Airlines discontinuing its usage of DFW as a hub)

Supporters of the amendment say that DFW Airport is the economic engine of the metroplex area, and do not wish for a competing airport to either take traffic from DFW or drive the prices down there. They concede that American's fares are often higher than from other airports, but American insists that they are only charging what the market will bear. A primary concern of many in the DFW area is that American is the largest employer in the North Texas area and many people associated with DFW and American Airlines are reluctant to put any jobs at risk, especially when considering the chronic financial difficulties that modern airlines face.

Text of Amendment

The original text of the Wright Amendment (from International Air Transportation Competition Act):

(a) Except as provided in subsection (c), notwithstanding any other provision of law, neither the Secretary of Transportation, the Civil Aeronautics Board, nor any other officer or employee of the United States shall issue, reissue, amend, revise, or otherwise modify (either by action or inaction) any certificate or other authority to permit or otherwise authorize any person to provide the transportation of individuals, by air, as a common carrier for compensation or hire between Love Field, Texas, and one or more points outside the State of Texas, except (1) charter air transportation not to exceed ten flights per month, and (2) air transportation provided by commuter airlines operating aircraft with a passenger capacity of 56 passengers or less.
(b) Except as provided in subsections (a) and (c), notwithstanding any other provision of law, or any certificate or other authority heretofore or hereafter issued thereunder, no person shall provide or offer to provide the transportation of individuals, by air, for compensation or hire as a common carrier between Love Field, Texas, and one or more points outside the State of Texas, except that a person providing service to a point outside of Texas from Love Field on November 1, 1979 may continue to provide service to such point.
(c) Subsections (a) and (b) shall not apply with respect to, and it is found consistent with the public convenience and necessity to authorize, transportation of individuals, by air, on a flight between Love Field, Texas, and one or more points within the States of Louisiana, Arkansas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, and Texas by an air carrier, if (1) such air carrier does not offer or provide any through service or ticketing with another air carrier or foreign air carrier, and (2) such air carrier does not offer for sale transportation to or from, and the flight or aircraft does not serve, any point which is outside any such State. Nothing in this subsection shall be construed to give authority not otherwise provided by law to the Secretary of Transportation, the Civil Aeronautics Board, any other officer or employee of the United States, or any other person.
(d) This section shall not take effect if enacted after the enactment of the Aviation Safety and Noise Abatement Act of 1979.

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