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Southwest announces 15 long routes from Dallas Love Field
Southwest Airlines announced the first long-distance routes it will fly from Dallas Love Field once restrictions on such flights expire this fall.
Southwest's first batch of new Dallas flights will begin Oct. 13, when the carrier will add nonstop flights between Love Field and the following five cities: Baltimore/Washington, Chicago Midway, Denver, Las Vegas and Orlando.
The next batch of new flights will debut Nov. 2, with Southwest adding nonstops between Love Field and Atlanta, Fort Lauderdale, Los Angeles, Nashville, New York LaGuardia, Phoenix, Orange County (Calif.), San Diego, Tampa and Washington Reagan National.
Currently, because of rules the "Wright Amendment," most flights from the close-in Dallas airport are restricted only to eight states bordering or near Texas.
The law stems from 1979 -- ultimately referred to as the Wright Amendment for its author, former House Speaker Jim Wright -- forced flights leaving Love Field to land in Texas or the four states touching it: New Mexico, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Louisiana. Political interests ushered in exemptions in later years that added Alabama, Kansas, Mississippi and Missouri to the list.
Flights on planes seating 56 or fewer passengers are exempted from the Wright rules, though Southwest ? by far the biggest carrier at Love Field ? flies only Boeing jets that seat well over that figure. Some airlines -- most recently Delta -- exploited that exemption to fly routes beyond those states.
With the new long-haul routes, Southwest will compete against similar service from American Airlines at nearby DFW Airport.
Southwest's toughest competition, however, might come from Delta Air Lines Inc., which is already selling tickets for flights in late 2014 from Love Field to New York, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Minneapolis and Detroit.
There's just one hitch: Delta doesn't have any gates at Love Field.
American has two gates but agreed to give them up to settle a government lawsuit against its merger with US Airways. Delta wants to buy them from American, but so does Southwest, and other airlines could enter the bidding.
When Southwest CEO Gary Kelly was asked recently about competing with Delta at Love Field, he replied, "It remains to be seen who will get those two gates."
The U.S. Justice Department has said that the gates American is giving up shouldn't go to so-called legacy carriers ? a short list that includes Delta and United. In Delta's favor, however, is the fact that Southwest already controls 16 of the 20 gates at Love Field.
Southwest Airlines announced the first long-distance routes it will fly from Dallas Love Field once restrictions on such flights expire this fall.
Southwest's first batch of new Dallas flights will begin Oct. 13, when the carrier will add nonstop flights between Love Field and the following five cities: Baltimore/Washington, Chicago Midway, Denver, Las Vegas and Orlando.
The next batch of new flights will debut Nov. 2, with Southwest adding nonstops between Love Field and Atlanta, Fort Lauderdale, Los Angeles, Nashville, New York LaGuardia, Phoenix, Orange County (Calif.), San Diego, Tampa and Washington Reagan National.
Currently, because of rules the "Wright Amendment," most flights from the close-in Dallas airport are restricted only to eight states bordering or near Texas.
The law stems from 1979 -- ultimately referred to as the Wright Amendment for its author, former House Speaker Jim Wright -- forced flights leaving Love Field to land in Texas or the four states touching it: New Mexico, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Louisiana. Political interests ushered in exemptions in later years that added Alabama, Kansas, Mississippi and Missouri to the list.
Flights on planes seating 56 or fewer passengers are exempted from the Wright rules, though Southwest ? by far the biggest carrier at Love Field ? flies only Boeing jets that seat well over that figure. Some airlines -- most recently Delta -- exploited that exemption to fly routes beyond those states.
With the new long-haul routes, Southwest will compete against similar service from American Airlines at nearby DFW Airport.
Southwest's toughest competition, however, might come from Delta Air Lines Inc., which is already selling tickets for flights in late 2014 from Love Field to New York, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Minneapolis and Detroit.
There's just one hitch: Delta doesn't have any gates at Love Field.
American has two gates but agreed to give them up to settle a government lawsuit against its merger with US Airways. Delta wants to buy them from American, but so does Southwest, and other airlines could enter the bidding.
When Southwest CEO Gary Kelly was asked recently about competing with Delta at Love Field, he replied, "It remains to be seen who will get those two gates."
The U.S. Justice Department has said that the gates American is giving up shouldn't go to so-called legacy carriers ? a short list that includes Delta and United. In Delta's favor, however, is the fact that Southwest already controls 16 of the 20 gates at Love Field.