Breaking News - Wright Amendment Repealed

[satpak77]

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/093006dnbuswright.2b0fe760.html

airline history just got made

 

[Corona]

History? Future is more like it. It doesn't take effect for 8 more years. Is this what the SWA folks really want or is it a compromise?

C

 

[DH2WN]

Through flights take affect when Bush signs the papers. Non-stops after 8 years. It would have taken 8 years of lobbying to get there anyway.

In 20 years there will be a new fight to get international flying out of Love.

 

[HighSpeedClimb]

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/093006dnbuswright.2b0fe760.html

airline history just got made

Someone beat you on that thread....me
http://forums.flightinfo.com/showthread.php?t=86869

 

[nimtz]

Great. Now hopefully we need not see anymore 40 page threads of AA/SW guys b!tching at each other like junior high girls...

 

[Mr Hat]

From what I understand, SWA didn't want it to simply happen all at once. If you were able fly non-stop to Love Field tomorrow, they don't have/can't get enough planes quickly enough to take full advantage of it. So this seems to play their hand perfectly. Let the SW parties begin.

 

[Dizel8]

I guess all the other airlines will now be offered gates at Love, I mean the goverment is not acting anti competetive here now is it?

 

[Dangerkitty]

From what I understand, SWA didn't want it to simply happen all at once. If you were able fly non-stop to Love Field tomorrow, they don't have/can't get enough planes quickly enough to take full advantage of it. So this seems to play their hand perfectly. Let the SW parties begin.

Mr. Hat you are 100% correct. Plus, SWA needs time to renovate the DAL terminals. The word from I got was that they wouldn't start breaking ground until they knew that Wright was going to be repealed. This gives them the perfect amount of time to do that and get the through ticketing for SWA which means mega $$$ in the future.

 

[chase]

Great News

Passengers for the first time will be able to see connections from DAL to anywhere in the system. www.southwest.com gets nearly 10 million hits a month....the largest of any other airline out there I'm told....those folks now will have the ability to see connections they have never seen before & spend money with SWA when in fact they didn't before because "we can't get there from here." Yes many of the regular folks know the "system" but most didn't who don't live in & around here.

Organizations that wish to have conventions here now will have a much easier & affordable way to get their folks down to Dallas. Plus, look for some new routes that have never been flown to/from out of Dallas before that were permitted before under the Wright/Shelby Amendment but were never connected. DAL-JAC-then to anywhere in FL; DAL-BHM- to anywhere in FL. There were never enough O&D pax to justify those flights but now there will be plenty of through folks who will be just as happy to make one stop in Jackson or Birmingham, drop off & pick up 4-5 folks & press on to FL. Those through flights will be filled with FL or TX folks getting lower fares in those directions in way they haven't before.

SWA moved 100 FA's into DAL for Nov, an appropriate number of CA/FOs into DAL & HOU to handle the projected new flights...we're at 121 now, could go to 140ish with 14 gates right now, with 2 more gates that's another 20 or more...not huge numbers but we'll see what the future holds....the pump is primed & expect more to come as the ramp up begins. We have 5 more aircraft for the rest of the year to cover those already announced flights to new or old routes...no new routes have been announced for '07...expect those airplanes in '07 that will be arriving at a rate of over 1 every 10 days to start flying from DAL & HOU rather soon in the new year...the push for a new crew base may have just gotten some relief too with these new additions & 4 more gates to open in July in Houston once the new addition is finished.

It isn't a perfect compromise and still has regulation attached to it but for the consumer savings and more options to fly will begin shortly...that is good news for the folks of North Texas & those wishing to come visit Dallas & NT. Good news to start the 4th quarter....can't hurt the bottom line.

 

[satpak77]

chase

haven't seen you in awhile.

good news for SWA

later

 

[Noserider76]

I guess all the other airlines will now be offered gates at Love, I mean the goverment is not acting anti competetive here now is it?

No, unless you call giving a couple airlines their own private airfield anti-competitive.

 

[lowecur]

Congrats to the winners

Strong showing by the elected officials from TX. We will find out in coming months and years whether this is a strong bill or not. The Legend Group will probably have to be bought out eventually if a judge doesn't rule that their lawsuits are frivolous. Then you have to deal with the various consumer groups from around the country that may try to participate in class action suits to have all portions of the compromise tossed. Here are some statements from the various participants and their thoughts on the future:

imp:
Mayor Laura Miller acknowledged that the lawsuits filed by Love Terminal Partners, the owners of the former Legend Airlines terminal slated to be demolished under the Wright agreement, will continue to be a thorn in her side.

But Dallas will not wait for a court ruling, she said, as the Wright agreement directs the city to proceed immediately.

Love Terminal Partners' "tactic is to keep the pressure up, because they see we have a great chance of being successful," Ms. Miller said. "In the court of law, I sure hope a judge would say...[they] have frivolously filed this lawsuit."

Bill Brewer, a Dallas lawyer representing Love Terminal Partners, said a lawsuit he filed Thursday – his third pending suit regarding Wright – seeks to void the city's involvement in the agreement.

He also said changes that were achieved by the judiciary committee leaders "saved the right of consumers and others who are affected by this to go to court."

The legislation does not specify which gates must be demolished, Mr. Brewer noted, potentially protecting the Legend building.

Debate over language in the bill exempting it from antitrust laws delayed the legislation. Ultimately, the exemption was stripped out of the bill and replaced by language making clear that Dallas will "reduce the number of gates," ostensibly giving the local parties cover from antitrust lawsuits because they would be acting under congressional direction.

Darren Bush, an antitrust professor at the University of Houston, said he doesn't think the legislation is airtight against lawsuits and an injunction.

"It certainly is subject to court challenges and therefore certainly could be subject to injunctions," he said. "I think a case could be made for irreparable harm in light of the impending destruction of the [Legend] terminal."

 

[Dizel8]

No, unless you call giving a couple airlines their own private airfield anti-competitive.

Exactly!

 

[Tejas-Jet]

I guess all the other airlines will now be offered gates at Love, I mean the goverment is not acting anti competetive here now is it?

I don't think DAL will have a sign out that indicates that they are offering anything...but if an airline wants to fly here and there is room...they are more than welcome...if there is not room....they'll have to wait for an opening or work out an arrangement with one of the carriers already there....($$$)...as has been done at other airports in the past.

Tejas

 

[Hair-on-Fire]

I don't think DAL will have a sign out that indicates that they are offering anything...but if an airline wants to fly here and there is room...they are more than welcome...if there is not room....they'll have to wait for an opening or work out an arrangement with one of the carriers already there....($$$)...as has been done at other airports in the past.

Tejas

B.S. In this instance they're tearing down gates to make sure there isn't any room for anyone else.

 

[Tejas-Jet]

B.S. In this instance they're tearing down gates to make sure there isn't any room for anyone else.

I fly in the morning....I'll check to see if there are any gates being torn down...didn't see any being torn down yesterday afternoon.

Tejas

 

[waitin]

They can fly at DFW.....not sure, but I think they've been saying they have lots o' room over there...

 

[satpak77]

taxi times at DFW do not fit into SWA's "model"

you will never see them there

 

[waitin]

um, I was talking about "all the other airlines."
Nobody wanted to operate out of Love a few years ago...now that seems to change

 

[satpak77]

um, I was talking about "all the other airlines."
Nobody wanted to operate out of Love a few years ago...now that seems to change

roger

 

[canyonblue]

Nobody wanted to operate out of Love a few years ago...now that seems to change

To quote Dizel8, exactly.

 

[HalinTexas]

There is not as much room at DFW as you think. Most non-AMR airlines have been moved over to Terminal E, except UAL.

AMR controls all of terminals A and C, and 2/3 of the gates in B and D. D is the international terminal and there are "other" airlines using the remaining gates. AMR closed up the Eagle satellite terminal and the E satellite terminal is only suitable for RJ's and other commuter aircraft. AMR has spread their wings on the ground to take up space, much like they did in Nashville and Raleigh, to keep the competition out.

There is little room there unless the airport wants to build another terminal. And I bet a "horshoe" design isn't what SWA would have in mind. It took about 10 years to get E built, including all the pre-construction issues. USAirways could use some more gates, but they park 6-8 aircraft off-gate each night. UAL used to park 3 or 4, don't know now.

 

[AFcitrus]

Love Field better open the flood gates. As soon as those previously forbidden routes open everyone is going to come to DAL. Let the "politicing" for gates begin.

 

[Dizel8]

To quote Dizel8, exactly.

Nobody wanted to operate out of Love because of the restrictions, that is other than SWA and a few other token flights on other carriers. However, now that the restrictions are going away, other carriers may want to serve Love, but seeing that this could happen, AA and SWA have colluded to make sure there is no availability of gates, essentially giving SWA a private airport.

To further make sure no carrier can make inroads, the gates are being demolished. Now, this may be a good compromise for AA and SWA, but for all other carriers it isn't. Hats off to them for pulling it off, however, even the most ardent SWA fan can see, that this benefits SWA and that as a company, they are making sure no one else can join the show at Love.

I am sure SWA would be most upset, if an airport they were trying to serve, say DIA, had seen UAL and Frontier lock them out and destroy gates, even though there were room.

Like I said, smart ploy by SWA, but in the big scheme of things, probably not the best move from the goverment vis a vis anticompetetive.

 

[bestpilot]

Love Field better open the flood gates. As soon as those previously forbidden routes open everyone is going to come to DAL. Let the "politicing" for gates begin.

AWWWWW YYYYYEEEEAAAAHHHHH!!!!!!!!!

Here come da Tranny!!!!!!

 

[TexaSWA]

...AA and SWA have colluded to make sure there is no availability of gates, essentially giving SWA a private airport.

SWA did NOT want a reduction in gates. That was added into the compromise to make the surrounding neighborhoods happy.

 

[Tejas-Jet]

B.S. In this instance they're tearing down gates to make sure there isn't any room for anyone else.

Well...I was at DAL today and just as I suspected....there are no gates being torn down. Now there is some construction going on in front of the baggage claim area...but it appears that has been going on for some while now.

Tejas

 

[TexaSWA]

B.S. In this instance they're tearing down gates to make sure there isn't any room for anyone else.

SWA did NOT want a reduction in gates. That was added into the compromise to make the surrounding neighborhoods happy.

 

[canyonblue]

I am sure SWA would be most upset, if an airport they were trying to serve, say DIA, had seen UAL and Frontier lock them out and destroy gates, even though there were room.

Bad analogy. For your logic to work you would have to first find an airport, nearby another airport, where the airline that is there can only fly to the neighboring states from said airport. Take your time looking for it, I'll check back in awhile.

 

[Dizel8]

Canyonblue, why do you think they destroyed the old Denver airport? Personally I think it had to do with the DFW-LUV debacle.

Yes, the Wright amendment was an odd piece of legislation, but it ended up being part of the deal for SWA to serve LUV. The players at the time were happy with the compromise, that is all but SWA, but then again, at the time they only wanted to serve Texas.

I can see why the Wright amendment was written, to aid AA and Braniff while at the same time fostering (one could say force) growth at DFW. I can also see why it ended up being bad for SWA and why a change was needed.

However, one thing is having it changed, another is having it changed in such a fashion, that it locks out all other carriers who may want to serve Love. While neither AA or SWA got what they really wanted, since I have little doubt AA wanted the airport gone and SWA wanted to grow, with no restrictions untill the Love master plan was reached, both got a neat little deal.

PS. Although no other two airports have the very same issue, one could look at the perimeter rule out of DCA.