A decade ago, Southwest Airlines declared “Wright was Wrong,” but for Fort Worth leaders, the Wright Amendment was right.
The 1979 amendment, which restricted long-haul flights out of Dallas Love Field, was enacted to protect the new Dallas/Fort Worth Airport, built jointly by Fort Worth and Dallas. With Delta Air Lines announcing in 2004 that it was dropping from 200 flights a day to 20, DFW Airport still needed that protection, they argued.
But when members of Congress began to file bills that would add their states to the list of approved destinations out of Love Field, local leaders realized that the time had come to figure out a solution for the future of the Dallas airport and, ultimately, the Wright Amendment.
“When they started understanding that other states were starting to repeal the Wright Amendment and that was going to set a precedent for other congressional leaders to start doing the same thing, it was abundantly clear that it wasn’t going to be long before everybody started jumping ship and the Wright Amendment was going to collapse,” former Fort Worth Mayor Mike Moncrief said in a recent interview.
With pressure from Congress, local leaders’ attitudes toward the Wright Amendment began to change. A compromise was reached in 2006, limiting Love Field to 20 gates and no international service while allowing for unrestricted domestic flights starting eight years later.
Now, on Monday, passengers will be able to fly nonstop to cities on the East and West coasts out of Love Field, as the restrictions put in place 34 years ago are finally lifted.
“We’ve been working to prepare for this for eight years,” Southwest CEO Gary Kelly said. “We’re ready. Our people are very excited and there is a lot of excitement with our customers.”
