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February - 2005 Prior to September 11, 2001 Southwest had operated 139 daily departures from Love Field. By January 2005, that number had fallen to 123 and things got worse when Southwest announced it would end service from Love Field to Houston's Intercontinental Airport (IAH) effective April 2. Southwest would remain at Houston's Hobby Airport, where it had made a sizeable investment. Houston had been Southwest's only major city (as opposed to metropolitan area) where it split operations between two airports. The flight cancellations would bring the number of daily Southwest departures at Love Field down to 117. Commercial air service at Love Field continued to shrink. In February, the Dallas Business Journal reported that Southwest would continue to cut flights at Love Field if the Wright Amendment remained in place. Southwest said the turning point was their inability to revive short-haul traffic after recession and 9/11 stalled the nation's airline traffic. "After 9/11, short-haul traffic was decimated and it hasn't come back, The most aggressive marketer in airline history with the lowest fares cannot grow at Love Field. If we can't grow at Love Field, no one can." They'd tried everything, Southwest said, but the automobile had re-emerged as a serious competitor on short-haul flights. Over at DFW, they had their own problems and a repeal of Wright would only make things worse -- both for DFW and American Airlines. The Dallas Business Journal had published an article which reported that Love flights outperformed DFW's, Not only were Southwest's fares lower, but its airplanes, on average, didn't fly as full as did flights from DFW. And while Southwest offered only two-thirds of the seats out of the Metroplex, it was getting three-fourths of the passengers. In Tampa, the Hillsborough County aviation authority was expected to decide in March whether to support DFW or Southwest on the Wright Amendment issue. In Tennessee, legislators had begun the anti-amendment uprising the previous year, with a bill that would have exempted Tennessee from the restrictions. That bill was sparked by Nashville businesses that complained of high fares to DFW. More and more people were beginning to speak up, calling the Wright Amendment corporate welfare for American Airlines at the expense of the traveling public. Back in the Metroplex, DFW administrators, American Airlines executives and the local politicians -- The Boys -- were still trying to handle the situation, insisting the matter was a "local issue." Rep. Michael Burgess (R) Flower Mound, had a simple message. "I say to the people in Tennessee: Go away. There is no need to pull the whole house down in North Texas just so they can get a cheaper fare from Nashville to Dallas," Southwest Airlines senior vice president, Ron Ricks shot back by saying, "DFW is 30 years old. Most people, I think, would agree that by the time you're 30 years old, and you're the third-busiest airport in the world in terms of operations, it's time perhaps to enter the marketplace and compete on fair terms like everybody else." In response, The Boys launched an informational Web site aimed at educating the public on issues relating to the Wright Amendment and the North Texas economy. Keep DFW Strong In adddition to personal visits to Capitol Hill, The Boys unleashed an army of lobbyists to fight to keep the Wright Amendment intact and hired new firms to help in the battle. This was after spending $2 million on its 2004 in-house lobbying operations, which covered many issues, from taxes to pensions to homeland security, according to disclosure forms filed with Congress. During 2005, however, American began to focus more attention and resources on the Wright Amendment. In an effort to quell the rhetoric from Nashville business travelers and Tennesse lawmakers, American Airlines sharply lowered walk-up fares between DFW and Nashville and launched new nonstop American Eagle service between Nashville, Tenn., and Reagan National Airport in Washington, Although American's lobbyists were urging Tennessee's members of Congress to abandon efforts to overturn the Wright Amendment, American Airlines said the lowered fares and new service were just a coincidence. At least, that's what The Boys said. Just in case political favors and rhetoric didn't work, AA reached into it's bag of threats. In an effort to put the fear of God into the neighborhood groups around Love Field as well as Ft. Worth and officals at DFW, AA said it stood ready to build a full-fledged hub at Dallas Love Field, shifting much of its operation from Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, if flight restrictions were lifted from Love Field Such a move would harm the fragile finances of D/FW as well as American, not to mention adding a lot of noisy jets and traffic to the area around Love Field. In an effort to worry customers in rural areas, AA said they might be forced to deploy equipment to Love from DFW that now provides service to small cities in Texas and across the nation. hurting both DFW and the Metroplex, and some small spoke cities such as Waco, College Station, San Angelo, Tyler and Longview in Texas as well as Lawton, OK. Southwest Airlines accused American of using "scare tactics" in the battle over the Wright Amendment, calling their threats "ridiculous and unrealistic, " "American never lets the facts get in the way of a good scare tactic," said Southwest spokesman Ed Stewart. There were two questions on everyone's mind. Could The Boys control the situation and keep it from getting out of hand?" That now seemed to be in question. Would AA commit financial suicide just to make a point? Using history as a guide, the answer was probably yes. |
| Your Good Airline's Gonna Go Bad
Tune - Your Good Girl's Gonna Go Bad (Sung by American Airlines Management)
We haven't seen much profit for a long while
So now your -- good airline's gonna go bad
We're tellin' small towns they may lose their service
So now your -- good airline's gonna go bad
The Boys are talkin' to those politicians.
So now your -- good airline's gonna go bad
If you want -- |
| This site was started by an Austin flyer and is dedicated to North Texas residents and employees of Love Field and Southwest Airlines who are working hard to get this law repealed. This site is not affiliated with Southwest Airlines, Dallas Love Field or the City of Dallas.
For more information on the Wright Amendment and to find out how you can help, please visit the following websites.
 
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