Corinth2103
Member
The local NBC affiliate in Dallas/Ft Worth mentioned tonight that American Airlines will most likely schedule a news conference for Friday at Love Field in Dallas to announce new service yet again from that airport. Cities in Missouri were mentioned as was new prospective service to the surrounding states that Southwest can fly to now due to the Wright Amendment.
Guess we'll know whether this is true or not by Friday, but the folks interviewed from Southwest were a bit incredulous that AA would do such a thing but they welcomed the chance to compete against its fellow North Texas airline.
Tim
And this from the Dallas Morning News...
American sets Love meeting, weighs options
Session may be initial step of its return to city airport
09:35 PM CST on Wednesday, November 16, 2005
By ERIC TORBENSON and SUZANNE MARTA / The Dallas Morning News
Real estate officials from American Airlines Inc. will meet with Dallas Love Field's airport director Friday in what could be the initial steps of the Fort Worth-based carrier's return to the city facility.
However, Love Field director Kenneth Gwyn quickly added Wednesday that he's received no formal indications from American suggesting it's in the process of getting its three gates there ready for flights.
"I've not been notified orally or in writing" about American's intents, Mr. Gwyn said. The agenda for the meeting at Love hadn't been formally set either, he said.
American could be positioning itself to combat Southwest Airlines Co., should Missouri become the eighth state that can be served with interstate commercial service from Love.
A spending bill in front of Congress this week contains language that exempts Missouri from Wright amendment flight restrictions.
DallasNews.com/extra
Tracking the Wright amendment: History, opinions, links and FAQs
An American spokesman confirmed that the meeting has been scheduled, but wouldn't elaborate on the carrier's plans at Love except to say it's considering its options.
Southwest launched the campaign to repeal Wright a year ago. The Dallas-based discounter wants to be able to serve its nationwide network from its home airport.
American, along with Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, has opposed lifting Wright.
Possible consequences
American has said that if the rules were lifted, it would be forced to divert flights to Love from D/FW because so many of its best customers live closer to the city airport.
But by doing that, American argues, its largest hub will be weakened, resulting in less service to smaller cities and some international destinations, eventually hurting the region's economy.
"St. Louis is the kind of mid- to long-range market that generates a lot of local traffic," said American's Tim Wagner. "That's the kind of market we've been saying all along that we expect to have diverted under the scenario where the Wright amendment is opened up at Love Field."
Although American doesn't fly directly against Southwest's service to 11 cities from Love today, it does compete on fares to those cities from D/FW.
Southwest won't say officially that it will launch service to St. Louis or Kansas City, but spokesman Ed Stewart noted that it appears increasingly likely that Missouri will be added to the Wright perimeter.
"If it does happen, it would be fair to say that the people of Missouri ought to be very encouraged," Mr. Stewart said. Southwest is already the largest carrier in Kansas City and the No. 2 carrier at St. Louis.
American last diverted planes to Love Field to compete against Legend Airlines, which flew for just eight months in 2000. American shared gates with Continental Airlines Inc.
Continental continues to serve Love with regional jet service to Houston. American suspended its Love service after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
Never used
American's three gates at Love, adjacent to the two operated by Continental in the East Concourse, have never been used. They were set to open on Sept. 23, 2001.
They're in "good shape," Mr. Gwyn said, and simply would require jet bridges to be attached to them and some other equipment to become operational.
Guess we'll know whether this is true or not by Friday, but the folks interviewed from Southwest were a bit incredulous that AA would do such a thing but they welcomed the chance to compete against its fellow North Texas airline.
Tim
And this from the Dallas Morning News...
American sets Love meeting, weighs options
Session may be initial step of its return to city airport
09:35 PM CST on Wednesday, November 16, 2005
By ERIC TORBENSON and SUZANNE MARTA / The Dallas Morning News
Real estate officials from American Airlines Inc. will meet with Dallas Love Field's airport director Friday in what could be the initial steps of the Fort Worth-based carrier's return to the city facility.
However, Love Field director Kenneth Gwyn quickly added Wednesday that he's received no formal indications from American suggesting it's in the process of getting its three gates there ready for flights.
"I've not been notified orally or in writing" about American's intents, Mr. Gwyn said. The agenda for the meeting at Love hadn't been formally set either, he said.
American could be positioning itself to combat Southwest Airlines Co., should Missouri become the eighth state that can be served with interstate commercial service from Love.
A spending bill in front of Congress this week contains language that exempts Missouri from Wright amendment flight restrictions.
DallasNews.com/extra
Tracking the Wright amendment: History, opinions, links and FAQs
An American spokesman confirmed that the meeting has been scheduled, but wouldn't elaborate on the carrier's plans at Love except to say it's considering its options.
Southwest launched the campaign to repeal Wright a year ago. The Dallas-based discounter wants to be able to serve its nationwide network from its home airport.
American, along with Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, has opposed lifting Wright.
Possible consequences
American has said that if the rules were lifted, it would be forced to divert flights to Love from D/FW because so many of its best customers live closer to the city airport.
But by doing that, American argues, its largest hub will be weakened, resulting in less service to smaller cities and some international destinations, eventually hurting the region's economy.
"St. Louis is the kind of mid- to long-range market that generates a lot of local traffic," said American's Tim Wagner. "That's the kind of market we've been saying all along that we expect to have diverted under the scenario where the Wright amendment is opened up at Love Field."
Although American doesn't fly directly against Southwest's service to 11 cities from Love today, it does compete on fares to those cities from D/FW.
Southwest won't say officially that it will launch service to St. Louis or Kansas City, but spokesman Ed Stewart noted that it appears increasingly likely that Missouri will be added to the Wright perimeter.
"If it does happen, it would be fair to say that the people of Missouri ought to be very encouraged," Mr. Stewart said. Southwest is already the largest carrier in Kansas City and the No. 2 carrier at St. Louis.
American last diverted planes to Love Field to compete against Legend Airlines, which flew for just eight months in 2000. American shared gates with Continental Airlines Inc.
Continental continues to serve Love with regional jet service to Houston. American suspended its Love service after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
Never used
American's three gates at Love, adjacent to the two operated by Continental in the East Concourse, have never been used. They were set to open on Sept. 23, 2001.
They're in "good shape," Mr. Gwyn said, and simply would require jet bridges to be attached to them and some other equipment to become operational.