Wright Amendment

For those of you who are unaware of the Wright Amendment, let me bring you up to speed on our airport situation here in North Texas. In 1974 they opened D/FW airport and tried to close Love Field which is near downtown Dallas. Dallas based Southwest Airlines refused to move to D/FW and insisted on staying at Love. The powers that be enacted the Wright Amendment in 1979 stating that no commercial airline can fly from Love Field to beyond the states that touch Texas. We have lived with this restriction ever since. Within the last year or two, many states have lobbied Congress for exemption to the amendment. Currently Southwest flies to eight nearby states, the most recent being Missouri. Nebraska has asked for exemption this past week.

For the past two months, Dallas, Ft Worth, and D/FW have been trying to reach an agreement about the amendment. There are supporters and opponents. The major opponents being Ft Worth based American Airlines and people who live near Love Field. American Airlines is afraid of the competition. The rest of the country enjoys low airfare either by flying Southwest or because of competition from Southwest. Here in North Texas, we either pay higher prices to fly or we drive.

The opponents who live near Love Field are upset that repealing the Wright Amendment will lead to more air traffic and thus more aircraft noise. Duh! You live near an airport! If you don't want to hear aircraft noise move away from the airport. It's not rocket science! Although, Dallas is home of the drama. If not from the school district or their city council, then from Wright Amendment opponents.

The airlines, including American, complain about losing revenue due to high fuel costs. Let Southwest enter the competition and lower prices and you'll get more business! Competition = lower costs = more passengers = more revenue.

Repealing the Wright Amendment is good for North Texas and good for consumers.

And That's What I Think!