March - 2005

Let's examine the issues of "deals being deals" and whether or not American Airlines can actually follow through on it's threat to build a full-fledged hub at Love Field.

The Love Field Master Plan, crafted in 2001, limits growth and is strongly supported by the neighborhoods as a way to limit air traffic while at the same time getting maximum use out of the facility, This in turn benefits the local economy.

Whereas DFW is the undisputed economic engine for the entire region, Love Field is still an economic engine in its own right, providing benefits for the City of Dallas and opportunities for increased, yet controlled growth in the area around Love Field, just as Ft. Worth's Alliance Airport does for the fast-growing and highly successful area northwest of downtown Ft. Worth.

American Airlines maintains that restrictions on growth at Dallas Love Field aren't etched in stone and could be "null and void" if the Wright Amendment is repealed -- a move that could result in a substantial increase in flights at the airport, as well as more traffic in the neighborhoods surrounding Love Field.

The question becomes, who controls the Love Field Master Plan and who has the authority to change it? The answer can be found in a 1998 ruling from the Department of Transportation.

Regarding the ongoing debate about whether or not the Love Field Master Plan would be null and void if the Wright Amendment is repealed, as Love Field's sole owner, the City of Dallas alone has the ultimate authority regarding its master plan as long as it adheres to FAA guidelines. Not the City of Ft. Worth. Not DFW Airport. Not American Airlines.

In Part 1 of the 1998 decision, the courts stated:

The Department is not holding that Dallas has no authority to limit the level of operations at Love Field. Airport operators may not regulate airline routes, as Fort Worth seeks to do, but airport owners have authority to regulate most aspects of airport operations.

The Department's interpretation here does not place in question the legitimate management rights of airport owners. The Department is also basing its decision on current circumstances. No one has tried to show in this proceeding that the additional services authorized by the Shelby Amendment could jeopardize DFW's role as the area's principal airport.

This ruling is explained in greater detail in Part 2 of the judgement. (scroll down to ISSUE ONE: The Scope of Dallas Proprietary Rights.)

As long as Dallas sticks to the master plan and only allows 250 daily commercial departures, those 140 or so extra departures from what Love Field currently offers will not be enough to jeopardize DFW's role as the primary airport. If Dallas were to scrap the master plan and allow 400-500 flights a day from DAL, then the Ft. Worth parties might have a better argument. But the City of Dallas, Southwest Airlines, and the neighborhood groups around Love Field have all said they do not want to do that.

Regarding The Boys' "deal-is-a-deal" argument, what about the "deals" American Airlines has made with the City of Ft. Worth and DFW Airport? AA is headquartered in Ft. Worth and is the city's largest and most well-known employer.

It's also fairly safe to assume DFW Airport as well as the cities of Dallas and Ft. Worth didn't approve the issuance of $2.7 mllion in revenue bonds to fund improvements to benefit Delta Or Air Tran.

That's one of the reasons DFW wants Southwest to move -- to basically force Southwest to subsidize the cost of the skylink train and Terminal D, neither of which would be of use to Southwest since any DFW service they might choose to offer wouldn't be spread out over multiple terminals and they wouldn't include any international destinations, unlike AA.

And if a "deal is a deal," what about the use agreement with DFW American Airlines signed way back in 1969 agreeing to move all operations from Love Field to DFW once DFW opened? Wouldn't that be legally enforceable contract? Unfortunately, no.

In the same 1998 Declaratory Judgement on Love Field, the court ruled that the DFW use agreements cannot block an airline from offering interstate service at Love Field if otherwise permitted by federal law.

Like Fort Worth and Dallas, DFW has no authority to restrict an airline's use of Love Field. The Department disagreed with the DFW Board's contention that its agreements constitute an enforceable waiver by the airlines of any rights to use Love Field -- insofar as the use agreements bar an airline from operating at an airport competing with DFW, the agreements are unenforceable.

This ruling is explained in much greater detail in Part 3 (scroll down to ISSUE FOUR: Enforceability od DFW Use Agreement

Although this particular ruling referred to Continental Express' use agreements and their service at Love Field, obviously, the same would apply to AA. As such, the argument cannot continue to be made that AA would be violating their use agreement with DFW by moving some service to Love, at least not in the legally enforceable sense.

But what about American's moral obligation to keep their agreements -- agreements which Southwest never signed off on? DFW's expensive improvements were built primarily to AA's specifications and for AA's use (even AA's color scheme is incorporated into the terminal finishes). Why should Southwest or any other carrier for that matter have to help AA pay for that?

Why should Dallas, Ft. Worth, and DFW Airport pay the price just because American wants to wreak havoc and destroy the Love Field Master plan, hurting themselves in the process - all in their weak attempts to spread fear, uncerainty and doubt throughout the region?

After decades of watching American Airlines litigate everyone in sight to achieve their goals maybe it's time for the Metroplex -- Ft. Worth in particular -- to take a page out AA's playbook and engage in the same tactics against them. If Ft. Worth truly wants to protect the cities' joint investment in DFW, they will do whatever it takes to make sure AA doesn't challenge the Love Field Master Plan, including taking them to court if necessary.

If that tactic's good enough for American Airlines, then surely it's good enough for the city leaders over in Cowtown, unless of course they are content to remain AA's little lapdog and blame all their problems on Dallas and Southwest.

Tune - You Ain't Woman Enough to Take My Man
Loretta Lynn

(Sung by Ft. Worth to AA and Dallas)

(instrumental intro)

(To AA)

You think you're gonna leave us
Well we don't think that's so
'Cause we've spent lots of cash on you
And we're not gonna let you go
You say you'll go to Love Field
Oh, but we don't think you can
'Cause there ain't no Love big enough
To take our mAAn

Airlines like you - they're a dime a dozen
But -- we can play hardball, too
You think you're gonna move
Half your fleet to Love Field??!!
Well baby, we've got news for you

It'll be over our dead bodies
Hire those lawyers while you can
There ain't no Love strong enough
To take our mAAn

(to Dallas now - with hands on hips)

Sometimes AA shoots off their mouth
They love to raise a fuss
But right now, since Love Field's too small
They're still in love with us

Well, we don't know where that leaves you
But we do know where we stand
Fort Worth won't allow your Love
To steal our mAAn

(Back to singin' to AA)

AA get your act together!
Stop spreadin' such doubt and fear
We're sick & tired of puttin' up
With all of this stuff
And let's make one thing perfectly clear.

You'll be leavin' over our dead bodies
So you'd best have another plan
We'll say it again -- (Love Field)
Can't handle our mAAn

No, Dallas Love Field won't steal
Fort Worth's - m-A-A-n