Study Finds Opening Love Field to Long-Haul flying would have Serious Conserquences

[canyonblue]

Hey SWA/FOD, where were you in 1978 when all this went down? I'd bet that you were sucking on a fudgecicle and watching cartoons.

Actually I don't even think he was born yet. He is indeed young, and has a long career ahead of him and will probably retire a millionaire, and you, well you should just retire.uke:

 

[radarlove]

Well since you guys seem to be so much better than the rest of us why dont you just come to DFW and face off on AA head to head?

You now have the finances and the pricing power to do whatever in the heck you want. Don't you? Why are you so scared about flying in and out of DFW?

And don't give me the whole crap about the delays out of DFW. I flew out of there for 3 years and it is much better than most of the other airports out there.

I don't know much about Southwest, but I do know this much: if your maintenance hangars, training facility, headquarters and infrastructure at at one airport, how could you reasonably move operations to another? You would have to duplicate everything. Unless there's a taxiway from Love to DFW. What a waste. I've been surprised that the SWA spokesmen never seem to mention this fact, they just talk about not wanting to enter the Lion's den. I'm sure they would be QUITE willing to enter the den, if they hadn't spent tens (hundreds? I don't know how big a complex they have) of millions at Love.

I think the Wright Amendment is going to go away, piece by piece, instead of all at once. Y'know what? AMR will survive and SWA will grow a little larger.

Remember the "Southwest Effect"? Southwest's customers aren't the same as AMRs. This was also the case with Valujet/AirTran and Delta. They have two seperate customer bases.

 

[Dangerkitty]

Actually I don't even think he was born yet. He is indeed young, and has a long career ahead of him and will probably retire a millionaire, and you, well you should just retire.uke:

Yeah, because SWA's retirement package is so good.

 

[canyonblue]

You guys agreed to a deal 30 years ago and now you want it changed. Sorry it's not in the cards. Either fly out of DFW or continue to fly out of Love with it's restrictions.

I never agreed to it, so piss off. WA is going away du da, du da. WA is going away and AA will have to pay.:crying:

 

[erj-145mech]

Actually I don't even think he was born yet. He is indeed young, and has a long career ahead of him and will probably retire a millionaire, and you, well you should just retire.uke:

And I'll still be around when you retire. Mech's don't have to quit on the 60th birthday. I plan on at least 50 years wrenching, and happy as a clam.

 

[Jim Smyth]

Resistance is futile! You will be assemenated into the collective..................

 

[Flopgut]

Hey SWA Twerps!

And I'll still be around when you retire. Mech's don't have to quit on the 60th birthday. I plan on at least 50 years wrenching, and happy as a clam.

I wouldn't pick on the mech too much. He is probably a lot better pilot than any of you are a mech. Makes a good point about the retirement age (very key, and some of them make pretty good CEOs [certainly better than pilots]) and he also brings up a good point I was staying away from with you SWA types...You DON'T fly to IAH anymore! Run out maybe? I don't know about that but I can tell you this: I sure don't miss the inordinately fast surface movement or the pathetic, breathless, blurted-out radio jibberish.

 

[OffHot]

Flopgut....lets see "blurted-out radio jibberish"? Based on your reponse you should know.

 

[Flopgut]

Flopgut....lets see "blurted-out radio jibberish"? Based on your reponse you should know.

-------------------------------

 

[mdf]

I wouldn't pick on the mech too much. He is probably a lot better pilot than any of you are a mech. Makes a good point about the retirement age (very key, and some of them make pretty good CEOs [certainly better than pilots]) and he also brings up a good point I was staying away from with you SWA types...You DON'T fly to IAH anymore! Run out maybe? I don't know about that but I can tell you this: I sure don't miss the inordinately fast surface movement or the pathetic, breathless, blurted-out radio jibberish.

Ah yes, the voice of reason returns.:nuts:

 

[chase]

Since I am furloughed from AA and have moved to greener pastures I really could care less what happens to the whole Wright Amendment thing.

I just find it incredibly hypocritical that SWA now wants the Wright Amendment repealed when 30 years ago Herb himself signed off on the deal. The whole Wright Amendment was put into place to appease SWA so that they wouldn't have to move to DFW like everyone else. Now they are crying foul.

Danger,

I'm sorry for the furlough but it sounds like you have rebounded...congrats on getting back up & moving on.

In regards to your 2nd paragraph I believe the following synopsis of the events during that time might give the ready a slightly different perspective of what happened than your brief description.

History of the Wright Amendment​

Southwest Airlines has been dedicated to providing low fares and dependable air travel to America for 38 years. In 1967, Southwest Airlines chose to liberate the City of Dallas from the exorbitant airfares that existed even then. Of all the cities and airports in the country, Dallas was picked to host the concept of a low-fare airline for all travelers. But no good deed goes unpunished, as they say, and for its efforts 38 years ago to bring affordable air travel to the Metroplex, Southwest Airlines suffered 12 years of nonstop litigation from DFW International Airport and its airline tenants. (We weren't very popular with the locals...they certainly had a track record of trying to hinder our growth...the WA was just the last way for them to do it in my view.) The first four years were spent just trying to begin service. Only after a final decision by the Texas Supreme Court, affirmed by the U.S. Supreme Court, was Southwest able to begin service on June 18, 1971. By then, the litigation had cost Southwest millions of dollars, depleting virtually all of Southwest's financial capital-but not its will.

After losing the initial legal battle, competing airlines joined forces with DFW Airport and the Cities of Dallas and Fort Worth in a series of new legal bouts before administrative agencies and state and federal courts. The purpose of that litigation was to defeat Southwest by evicting it from Love Field in Dallas, the source of Southwest's competitive niche. That litigation continued, in numerous forms and before numerous forums, again including the U.S. Supreme Court. The last battle in this series was not settled until September of 1979, with one last regulatory ruling from a federal agency decreeing that Southwest could operate from Love Field, both for intrastate and interstate flights. Key paragraph...again showing the intent of the competition...there was "no compromise being sought....our competitors didn't want a compromise, they wanted us out of business.

During this 12 year period, the city Southwest wanted to liberate from high airfares made it a crime for a commercial air carrier to land at Love Field (a law that was later overturned by a federal judge as an abuse of law). Along the way, two of Southwest's competitors were indicted by a federal criminal grand jury for their role in the conspiracy to bankrupt the fledgling carrier. To the best of my knowledge no one in SWA has ever been charged with a crime in how we compete...was AA one of these parties? It would have been much easier for Southwest to pack up and move its low fare airline to another city but Southwest believed in Dallas and knew the citizens of North Texas deserved the Freedom to Fly. They, too, wanted Love Field to be the cornerstone of a budding competitive niche that is not dependent upon monopoly, but founded on close-in, non-hub airports that allow for quick aircraft turns and high productivity for both airplanes and employees.


In 1978, Southwest saw a ray of hope; the U.S. Congress passed the Airline Deregulation Act, establishing a national policy that would take the government out of the business of regulating which routes an airline could fly. AA still didn't stop their efforts to put SWA out of business...again Herb didn't go looking for a fight, it was brought to SWA. Congress acknowledged that open competition is the best means of determining air routes and fares, but memories are short, and Love Field would soon be excluded from this freedom with the passage of the Wright Amendment less than a year later.
Unsuccessful in beating Southwest into submission via the courts, DFW supporters made this local issue a congressional issue. House Majority Leader Jim Wright, without notice, without hearings, and without opportunity for public comment or informed debate, attached an amendment that banned any airline from engaging in interstate air commerce from Love Field to an unrelated bill. The U.S. Senate refused to go along, and forced a compromise, today's Wright Amendment, whose admitted purpose is to protect DFW Airport (and the airlines which serve it) from competition.
_______________________________________________________________

Ironically I believe one day the folks in N Texas will wake up & find the WA gone...it too will go the same way it was created....AA won't be consulted but a compromise will be reached by "politicians" & the bill will cease to exist or a phase out will be ordered....AA will be forced to deal with it just as SWA was forced to deal with it....does anyone want to bet that AA will be able to handle this "new situation" as well as SWA did 25 years ago?

Again Danger, I hope things continue well for you but I would respectfully disagree with your assessment that SWA was a willing partner to the WA...I believe the informed reader might come to a different conclusion. Cheers,

 

[Tejas-Jet]

If competition is your argument then why doesn't SWA just come to DFW. DFW has been begging for SWA to launch service there.

If DFW is such a great airport to fly out of....why don't the powers that be let all the other airlines that are beating on their door, have those empty 24 gates?

If that DFW board is holding on to those 24 empty gates just for SWA, and turning down all the other airlines who want them....they are not doing a good job of managing their assets.

Tejas

 

[Tejas-Jet]

The Wright Amendmend has been a around since SWA was started it is status quo

Uhhhh....SWA started operating in 1971....the Wright Amendment was imposed in 1979.

Tejas

 

["Next Wave"]

SWA Welcome

SWA is welcome in KOKC! Central ,Brand New Terminal and plenty of incentives from the state.

 

[SWA/FO]

At least my "retirement money" is MY money.

Chase,

What are you talking aout? AA always plays fair! Just ask Vanguard, Legend & Braniff!!! (i'm sure there is more)..:uzi:

peace out - V