Here's the latest Q&A article on DAL…
Love Field Aviation Director: 'No chance' of international flights or further expansion.
03/16/2017
Dallas Business Journal
Passenger traffic, the number of flights and destinations, and revenue from airport parking, restaurants and shops has soared at Dallas Love Field in the more than two years since the lifting of Wright amendment restrictions.
“The amount of traffic has exceeded everyone's expectations,” Love Field Aviation Director Mark Duebner told the Dallas Business Journal in a recent interview.
The number of boardings alone has grown from 4.9 million in 2014 to 7.3 million in 2015 and 7.9 million last year. That's still roughly a fourth of the approximately 33 million boardings at Dallas Fort Worth International Airport, but that's exactly the way city leaders and airport officials want it, so as to protect the economic engine that DFW Airport is for the region.
Love Field's passenger traffic surged as Southwest Airlines (NYSE: LUV) added batches of new destinations in the year after the Wright amendment, and it has continued to grow since. Meanwhile, Southwest, the airport's 800-pound gorilla with 90 percent of the traffic and 18 of the airport's 20 gates, is duking it out in court with Delta Airlines for sole access to the one gate that Delta is now authorized to use.
In this Q&A, part one of two with Duebner, he talks about the impact of the Wright Amendment and why Love Field is close to being maxed out.
How has the airport been affected by the expiration of the Wright Amendment?
We opened the first 12 gates of the new terminal in April 2013. The Wright Amendment restrictions were phased out starting when the Wright Amendment Reform Act passed in 2006. That regulation is what caps us at 20 gates, and we are not allowed to do international service from here. But the restriction of no nonstop flights beyond the contiguous states and Alabama, those restrictions were set to expire on October of 2014. So now we operate somewhat constrained. We're not fully set free. We still have the 20-gate restriction and we're not allowed to do international flights out of Love Field, but all domestic nonstop flights are available. We serve 50 nonstop destinations right now.
What are the chances of removal of the restrictions on international destinations or lifting the 20-gate cap?
There was something put in place at the time the legislation went into effect called the five-party agreement. The five parties are the cities of Dallas (which owns Love Field), Fort Worth, DFW International Airport, Southwest Airlines and American Airlines. That agreement is explicit, and it says none of those five parties can advocate or do anything to try to change the agreement, including the 20-gate limitation. The city (of Dallas) is not advocating for any changes. We've come to an agreement and we're going to stick to that agreement. I think there is no chance of that limitation being removed.
What if the business community, through an organization like the Dallas Regional Chamber or North Texas Commission, advocated for it?
We're pretty small, but we're an urban airport. We have very big institutions on all four sides. There is no way for Love Field to expand. The gates are limited and we're at the max for gates. And we're an urban airport and our activity does have an impact on our neighbors. A big part of that 20 gates as the number they arrived at was based on what they felt like Love Field would have grown to or what the noise impact was when Love Field used to have 32 gates. So I don't think there is much appetite for Love Field to have a lot more activity because we're right in the middle of the city, and it will affect our neighbors. The chambers view us as an asset, and we try to be a good part of the community, and I think all the chambers recognize that. And DFW is a wonderful airport. It's been a huge economic engine for the region. Dallas has the best of both worlds. It's nice to have a smaller, convenient airport, but it arguably is much better to have a DFW Airport and what that impact is economically on the region. DFW Airport is really a big deal, and it's really where energy and focus should be for the city and the whole region. They're doing a great job, especially with the international passenger growth and their strategy there. DFW has it going on. We've got a little niche and we're happy to fill that.
All told, how much has the expiration of the Wright Amendment affected your traffic?
From 2014 to 2015, we had a 56 percent increase. For 2016, we had about a 10 percent increase from 2015. So aggregated, it's going to be a close to 70 percent increase in traffic. In 2013, we had 4.2 million enplanements. In 2014 we had 4.9 million enplanements. We jumped up to 7 million enplanements in 2015 (and 7.9 million in 2016).
Does Love Field or do you have an opinion over who gets to operate out of Gate 15 — Southwest or Delta?
No we don't, and there's ongoing litigation about it, so I don't have anything to say about that. The city wants the asset that it owns to be used to its full potential, and that's all we care about.
Most industries find value in diversification. Can an airport be over-reliant on one airline?
Absolutely. Yes. A prime example is Memphis. Memphis was a hub, and overnight with very little warning, one airline stopped using them as a hub and their traffic fell off dramatically. There's always risk operating airports. but given the volatility of airlines, there's no sure bet. It's highly sensitive to the economy, highly sensitive to fuel pricing. The good thing about Love Field is, because it's a convenient airport, if there was any movement by any carrier, the airport would be in a good position to seek new service by other carriers.
Is Love Field overreliant on Southwest, which has 18 of the airport's 20 gates? Is there a risk that we're reliant on one airline?
Absolutely. There are a number of airports that have suffered greatly from drops in traffic because one carrier changed their operational model. What we're focused on at Love Field is diversification of all of our revenue streams. Not just airline and airline-related, but our non-aeronautical commercial development. We also have a very strong general aviation community at Love Field. For the business of an airport, diversification of revenue is as important or more so than worrying about what your carrier mix is. In the 1960s and 1970s, airports got about 60 percent of their total revenues directly from the airlines — their landing fees and terminal fees. That model has changed to where now, airlines represent about 50 percent of most airports' revenue streams. The rest is concessions, general aviation leases, other commercial leases. That's the new model for airports.
What percentage of Love Field's revenue is from landing fees and terminal rents paid by the airlines?
A little less than 50 percent.
What is Love Field's fastest growing revenue stream?
Far and away, parking. Parking revenues, then food and beverage, then probably car rentals. Those are the big ones. Then we have fuel flowage fees and rentals on airport property.. That's how we look at diversifying the airport. We're looking at ways we can maximize our assets.
How long is Southwest locked into terminal leases?
Through 2028. We redid all the leases in 2008 and they were 20-year leases. So all of our leases go through 2028.
When 2028 arrives, do Southwest, American and United have preferential rights to control the gates they now lease, or does it all open back up?
I believe the way the five-party lease reads, if any of the leases terminate because of whatever reason, the agreement says those gates will become common-use gates. The city agrees not to have any more preferential leases for gate space. So I believe in 2028, all the gates will open up to common use, and it will be up to the airport to manage that use. More and more airports across the country are going to common-use gates. It's a shared asset. Common-use check-in kiosks. Technology is changing the way passengers check in and move through airports. By 2028 it's likely to be different.
How so?
You'll have a retinal scan when you walk through the door, your RFID in bag is recognized, you'll throw it on a belt, you'll know where your bag is all the time, you'll walk through a hallway which will be the screening, go right to your favorite concession, and they'll already know what you want to order because you've pre-ordered and it will be ready and waiting for you. RFID is going to be the wave of the future. You will buy a suitcase with an embedded chip, and once the airlines have that number, they'll always know exactly where your bag is.
How about security?
Biometrics are going to replace documents, so pretty soon, it's thumbprint, eye scan, you won't need to show a driver's license, your boarding pass will be on your phone. TSA is trying to find the best way to do screening that keeps air travel safe, but to do it as the least intrusively as possible. There's a lot of smart people working on that.