- Jun 13, 2005
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Dallas Rep: Keep Wright or close Love
Rep. Johnson would push to end commercial flights at Love if Wright repealed
02:59 PM CDT on Wednesday, August 10, 2005
By ERIC TORBENSON / The Dallas Morning News
Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson said Wednesday that she supports keeping the Wright amendment in place and will sponsor legislation that would end all commercial flights to Dallas Love Field if the Wright law gets repealed.
Democrat Johnson, whose Dallas district includes both Love Field and the headquarters of Southwest Airlines Co., stood among a group of Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport concessionaires at a Las Colinas hotel to announce that after careful consideration, she had sided with D/FW’s position on the Wright matter.
“I determined my place was to support D/FW,†she said. “It’s nothing to do with the airlines.â€
D/FW officials fear that without the restrictions on long-haul flying from Love Field that American would shift flying away from D/FW and shift millions of passengers. That would raise costs at D/FW and threaten the business of contractors and concessionaires, many of whom are minorities, said Ms. Johnson, who is black.
Southwest launched its campaign to repeal the 25-year-old law last November, and has bills in both the House of Representatives and the Senate that would remove the restrictions.
Ms. Johnson, who sits on the House subcommittee on aviation, said that after talking with former House speaker Jim Wright and others surrounding the issue, she concluded that the Wright amendment is what allows Southwest to fly from Love Field and without it, the airport should be closed to commercial traffic as the leaders of Dallas and Fort Worth originally agreed when they built D/FW.
Southwest strongly disagrees with that interpretation that the Wright amendment is what allows them to fly from their headquarters airfield, citing nearly a decade of federal court case victories that the airline believes establishes a legal right for it to fly from Love Field.
“Without the Wright amendment, we revert back to the original agreement,†she said, and that means shutting down Love Field. A similar bill to shut Love Field to commercial traffic was introduced in the Senate by senators from Iowa and Oklahoma. Ms. Johnson said she expects to find other sponsors for a similar version in the House.
One neighborhood organization endorsed Ms. Johnson’s stance. â€I commend her leadership on this,†said Pat White of the Love Field Citizens Action Committee, which opposes repeal of the Wright amendment.
Ms. Johnson heard from minority contractors and other constituents on the issue. Southwest has maintained that nearly all the contractors at Love Field are minorities who would also benefit from lifting of the Wright amendment. “That’s just not the case,†Ms. Johnson said in response to a question at her news conference.
A majority of North Texas’ Congressional delegation supports keeping the Wright law in place, including all representatives from Fort Worth.
American Airlines Inc. lauded Ms. Johnson’s stand.
“We are incredibly encouraged by Congresswoman Johnson’s statement of support for keeping the Wright amendment,†the airline said in a release. “We applaud her principled stand.†A call to Southwest hadn’t been returned.
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