Well, there are actually two examples. Denver is the precedent and the airport was mot Stapleton. The other example is Dallas. The agreement you eventually could not wiggle out of stated it would be in Dallas' best interest to have only one FIS. So you come to Houston knowing full well you've got nothing but problems for everybody but your own airline.
Sorry, but you're wrong again.
The FAA declined to allow a second DEN airport to open to international traffic, due to airspace saturation and limitations alone (the TCA ends abruptly at the mountains). There simply isn't enough airspace to maneuver the expected international traffic for two separate airports. It was
not a matter of "splitting" any FIS. It's not as if there can only be so many people in uniform. The government will just hire more employees for these
additional needs, as it is paid for by the
additional passenger charges. As many FIS's as needed or required, no problem.
No such airspace issue exists in Houston. I believe I already pointed this out to you from FAA materials that
you provided way back when, when you mistakenly thought it supported your claims. It has nothing to do with the wishes of the mayor. Either for or against. The FAA is
obligated to provide service when requested by an airline, as long as there is no legitimate airspace issue like there was in Denver.
For your other example, as far as Dallas Love goes, once again you're wrong with your attempted history rewrite. No surprise there. The prohibition on international flying out Love in the 2006 compromise has NOTHING to do with the "best interests" of the cities. Nothing whatsoever. Nobody even pretended that, or "stated" that in in the agreement. Southwest's agreeing to forego international flying from DAL was purely a political concession to American Airlines to achieve the compromise that finally ended the Wright Amendment. The only entity whose "interests" were protected was that of American Airlines, because while they would now have to compete head-to-head with us domestically in Dallas, they were spared having to also compete with us internationally.
This is kind of what Unical
tried to do in Houston. Straight political maneuvering, while pretending it was for the "good" of the city. Unfortunately, you guys didn't buy a powerful enough politician, like American did. They had the Speaker of the House in their pocket in 1979, who snuck in a federal law that hobbled Southwest, to prevent us from competing with them. The Wright Amendment cost Dallas citizens untold millions in higher airfares, by preventing competition.
Any more questions or ridiculous assertions? I'll be happy to set you straight!
Bubba
