Remember the study that DFW released back on May 10th, the one that spelled out all the doom and gloom that would befall DFW if the Wright Amendment were repealed, but didn’t discuss anything regarding airfares?
Well, it turns out that was only a “summary†of the study—the complete study –did- discuss airfares. Check out this article at: http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/business/11752968.htm (use http://www.bugmenot.com ). Here are some excerpts, along with some [personal comments…]
“Airfares from North Texas to dozens of cities could drop as much as 50 percent if the Wright Amendment is lifted, according to a recent study commissioned by Dallas/Fort Worth Airport.†[Gad, what a surprise…]
“The airport, a leading proponent of the amendment, released a summary of the study two weeks ago indicating that if flight restrictions were lifted at Dallas Love Field, hundreds of flights would be shifted to Love from D/FW. The summary did not include the findings on faresâ€. [Gee, I wonder why…]
"If Southwest Airlines is allowed to expand, will fares come down? Absolutely," said Christina Cassotis, the study's author and vice president of Simat, Helliesen & Eichner in Cambridge, Mass. [How nice that they finally admit this…]
“The Star-Telegram obtained the fare data this week from the airport's legal department after submitting a written request for the documents.†[Rather disingenuous of DFW not to have released it to begin with…]
"We weren't trying to hide that issue," said Kevin Cox, the airport's chief operating officer. "We just didn't think anyone was interested in 160 pages of voluminous material." [I’ll just bet they weren't. The results of those 160 pages could have been condensed into readible form, I mean, the newspaper managed to do so. Maybe if they hadn’t sandbagged everyone on releasing the full report, some folks would have come away with a different conclusion on the issue...]
Cassotis said the impact on fares was never intended to be the report's main focus. [Of course, because they don’t –want- it to be...]
"The fare issue is very important to consumers, and so perhaps we should have included it," she said. [Perhaps? You know the fare issue is very important to consumers, and the best you can do is “perhaps?…]
The report also calculated that the average fare on all airlines, flying at D/FW or Love Field, would drop 31 percent to Southwest's new destinations, as other carriers are forced to compete. [Competition –works- folks…]
Southwest officials say those low fares are the crux of their argument for repealing the restrictions.
"Anytime you fetter competition, what you have is a penalty to the consumer," Kelleher said.
But airport officials say the debate shouldn't be about fares. [Again, because they don’t –want- it to be. Guess the consumer doesn’t deserve lower fares...]
"Of course fares would go down," said Cox, the D/FW official. "But that shouldn't be the question. The question is, at what expense?" [Actually, it –should- be the question...]
Cox called the fare issue "a red herring" because Southwest can fly to any destination from D/FW, without any potential damage to the airport from lifting the amendment. [DFW is doing a pretty good job of spinning themselves. Southwest has the inherent right, as a business, to decide how to run its business, and if Southwest decides operating at DFW doesn’t make sense for them, that’s their decision, and nobody else’s, whether folks agree with it or not. No red herrings, but what does smells fishy here is DFW’s lack of forthrightness on the whole issue...]
"Southwest is doing an excellent job of spinning this to make it look like they're helping the traveling public," he said. [Well, It sure doesn’t look like DFW is “helping the traveling public†with lower fares, so somebody’s got to…]
Speaking of which, the article also had a fare chart with pre/post-repeal fares…
http://www.star-telegram.com/mld/interacti.../fairschart.pdf
Well, it turns out that was only a “summary†of the study—the complete study –did- discuss airfares. Check out this article at: http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/business/11752968.htm (use http://www.bugmenot.com ). Here are some excerpts, along with some [personal comments…]
“Airfares from North Texas to dozens of cities could drop as much as 50 percent if the Wright Amendment is lifted, according to a recent study commissioned by Dallas/Fort Worth Airport.†[Gad, what a surprise…]
“The airport, a leading proponent of the amendment, released a summary of the study two weeks ago indicating that if flight restrictions were lifted at Dallas Love Field, hundreds of flights would be shifted to Love from D/FW. The summary did not include the findings on faresâ€. [Gee, I wonder why…]
"If Southwest Airlines is allowed to expand, will fares come down? Absolutely," said Christina Cassotis, the study's author and vice president of Simat, Helliesen & Eichner in Cambridge, Mass. [How nice that they finally admit this…]
“The Star-Telegram obtained the fare data this week from the airport's legal department after submitting a written request for the documents.†[Rather disingenuous of DFW not to have released it to begin with…]
"We weren't trying to hide that issue," said Kevin Cox, the airport's chief operating officer. "We just didn't think anyone was interested in 160 pages of voluminous material." [I’ll just bet they weren't. The results of those 160 pages could have been condensed into readible form, I mean, the newspaper managed to do so. Maybe if they hadn’t sandbagged everyone on releasing the full report, some folks would have come away with a different conclusion on the issue...]
Cassotis said the impact on fares was never intended to be the report's main focus. [Of course, because they don’t –want- it to be...]
"The fare issue is very important to consumers, and so perhaps we should have included it," she said. [Perhaps? You know the fare issue is very important to consumers, and the best you can do is “perhaps?…]
The report also calculated that the average fare on all airlines, flying at D/FW or Love Field, would drop 31 percent to Southwest's new destinations, as other carriers are forced to compete. [Competition –works- folks…]
Southwest officials say those low fares are the crux of their argument for repealing the restrictions.
"Anytime you fetter competition, what you have is a penalty to the consumer," Kelleher said.
But airport officials say the debate shouldn't be about fares. [Again, because they don’t –want- it to be. Guess the consumer doesn’t deserve lower fares...]
"Of course fares would go down," said Cox, the D/FW official. "But that shouldn't be the question. The question is, at what expense?" [Actually, it –should- be the question...]
Cox called the fare issue "a red herring" because Southwest can fly to any destination from D/FW, without any potential damage to the airport from lifting the amendment. [DFW is doing a pretty good job of spinning themselves. Southwest has the inherent right, as a business, to decide how to run its business, and if Southwest decides operating at DFW doesn’t make sense for them, that’s their decision, and nobody else’s, whether folks agree with it or not. No red herrings, but what does smells fishy here is DFW’s lack of forthrightness on the whole issue...]
"Southwest is doing an excellent job of spinning this to make it look like they're helping the traveling public," he said. [Well, It sure doesn’t look like DFW is “helping the traveling public†with lower fares, so somebody’s got to…]
Speaking of which, the article also had a fare chart with pre/post-repeal fares…
http://www.star-telegram.com/mld/interacti.../fairschart.pdf
