Timeline

The U.S. Army names its Dallas training field in honor of Lt. Moss Lee Love. Dallas purchases the surplus field from the Army in 1928 for $350,000.

1968

Dallas and Fort Worth, under pressure from the federal government, agree to build a regional airport. The airlines serving Love pledge to move to the new airport. That does not include Southwest Airlines, which did not exist.

1971

Overcoming almost four years of litigation designed to put Southwest out of business before it even started service, Southwest Airlines begins intrastate service between Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio.

1972

Not being a party in the DFW deal, Southwest chose to keep Love Field as its headquarters airport. The DFW Airport Board and the cities of Dallas and Fort Worth sue Southwest over its decision to remain at Love Field.

1973

Love Field enplanements peak at 6,668,398. A federal court grants Southwest Airlines the right to remain and offer intrastate air service at Love Field. The decision was upheld after a long and expensive appellate process.

1974

Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport officially opens.

1978

Airline Deregulation Act of 1978 introduces new fare and route competition and permits unrestricted entry into air passenger marketplace by new domestic carriers. This new law, passed by Congress and signed by President Carter, established a national policy of favoring competition over governmental regulation as the means of determining where an airline could fly.

1979

Southwest Airlines begins interstate service to New Orleans, Louisiana. As Southwest begins interstate service, DFW and the cities of Dallas and Ft. Worth again tried to block Southwest's growth, and its low fares, through the federal agencies overseeing the implementation of the Deregulation Act, the U.S. Civil Aeronautics Board. Losing that effort, the DFW supporters turn to an old ally, U.S. House Leader Jim Wright. Wright attaches the Wright Amendment to the International Air Transportation Competition Act of 1979. The Amendment permitted air carrier service between Love Field and points within Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, Oklahoma, and New Mexico.

1997

United States Senator Richard Shelby, offended by high airfares in his state, amended the Wright Amendment to permit Southwest to fly between Love Field and Alabama. Before the Shelby Amendment's final passage, Mississippi and Kansas, also were added.

2001

The Dallas City Council unanimously adopts the Love Field Master Plan, defining the future of Love Field. The Master Plan caps capacity at Love Field to 32 gates, less than a fifth of the size of DFW. The Master Plan also ensures that Love Field will never rival DFW in the size and scope of its operations.

2004

September 2004: Tennessee's U.S. House delegation, introduces a measure to allow Southwest to fly from Love to their state. The reason for the legislation: the lack of competition and higher airfares as a result thereof.

November 12, 2004: Southwest Airlines says it actively opposes the Wright Amendment, believing it's anti-competitive and outdated. DFW responds, vowing to fight any attempt to repeal the Wright Amendment. DFW is the only airport in the world that claims to need such protection. DFW is now one of the busiest, most successful airports in the world. To whatever extent DFW needed governmental protection in 1979, it most assuredly does not need it now.

2005

May 26, 2005: The RIGHT TO FLY ACT (HR 2646) was introduced in Congress by Texas Congressman Jeb Hensarling and Sam Johnson.

July 19, 2005: Nevada Senator John Ensign introduced the AMERICAN RIGHT TO FLY ACT (S. 1424).

*Both (aforementioned) pieces of legislation would effectively remove the Wright Amendment's restrictions on commercial air service to and from Dallas Love Field.

October 2005: Southwest Airlines Employees sent a Texas-sized message that Wright is Wrong to Senators Kay Bailey Hutchison and John Cornyn, and to the entire Texas congressional delegation. Uniformed Southwest Employees delivered the news in Washington that more than 250,000 Texans want the Wright Amendment repealed.

November 10, 2005: The Subcommittee on Aviation for U.S. Senate's Commerce, Science, & Transportation Committee held a hearing in Washington D.C. to discuss the Wright Amendment. Along with American Airlines' Gerard Arpey and DFW's Kevin Cox, Southwest Chairman Herb Kelleher gave written and oral testimony before the Committee members. Reinforcing Herb's testimony that the Wright Amendment is an anti-competitive and anti-consumer law, several Members of Congress weighed in. Sen. Kit Bond (MO), John Ensign (NV), and John McCain (AZ) made convincing arguments for repeal; as did Texas Congressman Jeb Hensarling, who called on Congress to "finish the job of deregulation."

November 30, 2005: President Bush signed into law legislation that allows nonstop commercial flights from Dallas Love Field to and from Missouri. Congress approved the language added to the annual Transportation Appropriations Bill on November 18. Missouri Senator Kit Bond spearheaded the effort to give more Americans the Freedom to Fly to the North Texas airport of their choice.

December 13, 2005: Southwest proudly began service to Kansas City and St. Louis, now free from the protectionist measures of the Wright Amendment.