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Wright Deal Likely Today: Southwest Airlines Apparently Gets on Board After Late Negotiating Blitz

Posted on: Thursday, 15 June 2006, 06:01 CDT

By Trebor Banstetter and David Wethe, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Texas

Jun. 15--A historic agreement that could eventually end the Wright Amendment is scheduled to be announced today, after officials from the cities of Dallas and Fort Worth and American and Southwest airlines labored to put the finishing touches on the deal late Wednesday.

Southwest officials confirmed Wednesday night that they will participate in a news conference on the Wright compromise at noon today at the Grand Hyatt Hotel at Dallas/Fort Worth Airport.

"Southwest will be represented at that news conference," said Ed Stewart, an airline spokesman. He declined to comment further.

American spokesman Roger Frizzell would not confirm late Wednesday whether his airline would also be represented.

"We're still negotiating," he said.

As of Wednesday night, a compromise had not yet been finalized and Dallas Mayor Laura Miller and Fort Worth Mayor Mike Moncrief continued to meet. But sources with the cities and airlines said that the end was in sight and that the remaining negotiations were unlikely to scuttle the deal.

Sources on all sides declined to be identified because the discussions were sensitive.

The provisions of the agreement remain under wraps, but sources said late Wednesday that they continue to include immediate through-ticketing from Dallas Love Field to cities beyond the Wright Amendment zone; a 20-gate limit that would most likely give Southwest Airlines 16 gates, American two and Continental Airlines two; and an eight-year moratorium on nonstop flights to distant cities.

Southwest's participation in the news conference signaled a significant breakthrough after days of frenzied talks. The Dallas-based airline had raised substantial concerns about the proposed agreement when it was outlined to airline executives Monday night, sources said.

A local compromise would just be a starting point; it will ultimately take an act of Congress to modify or eliminate the Wright Amendment. But an agreement endorsed by both cities and the two North Texas airlines will carry significant weight in Washington, D.C.

It would also presumably end the lobbying war between Southwest, which has been pushing for repeal, and American, which has been fighting to keep the amendment in place.

The deal would most likely include a signed contract spelling out certain details of the agreement, sources said. That would be followed up with a draft of proposed legislation that would be sent to Congress.

The parties continue to negotiate provisions, including restrictions on future passenger service at Alliance and Meacham airports in Fort Worth and other area airports. One proposal being discussed would require Southwest to give up gates at Love if it wanted to add service at either of those airports, according to several sources close to the deal.

It was unclear late Wednesday whether the agreement still includes an earlier proposal to raise landing fees at Love Field, possibly through new development at the airport, which would raise airline costs.

The day was filled with behind-the-scenes negotiations punctuated with some public action.

Dallas council members had been scheduled to vote on a proposed agreement Wednesday on Wright, but that vote had to be postponed when a deal was not completed. The Dallas council will vote on the agreement at its June 28 meeting, the last session before it goes on vacation for July.

And a news conference to announce a deal between the mayors, which had been tentatively planned for noon Wednesday, was canceled. Although Miller and Moncrief had already agreed on a deal late Tuesday, the airlines were not on board.

Southwest initially balked at much of the proposal. Although its executives supported the ability to sell connecting flights to distant cities, Stewart complained publicly that the waiting period for nonstop long-haul flights was too long. He also said that 16 gates would not allow the airline enough room to grow.

But after hours of negotiation, the airline apparently acquiesced to the deal's major tenets, with some changes, including the shortening of the waiting period to eight years from nine.

The period was shortened at Southwest's request, according to one source close to the talks.

The parties negotiated until about 1:30 a.m. Wednesday, one source said, and continued to work through the day.

The Wright Amendment, a 1979 federal law, restricts flights from Love to only Texas and a handful of nearby states. Southwest, which has its headquarters in Dallas and operates at Love, has been lobbying since 2004 to have the law repealed. American, which is based in Fort Worth and operates a major hub at D/FW, has been fighting to keep the law intact.

The two mayors started negotiating in March, when Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, urged them to seek a local solution before Congress acted on its own. At that time, the city of Dallas gave itself a June 14 deadline, and Fort Worth set a deadline of Aug. 1.

After several days of expecting a press conference by Wednesday, now everyone is juggling their schedules for today's event.

"Some folks are going to National League of Cities tomorrow," Ed Oakley, a Dallas city councilman, said Wednesday. "I had stuff scheduled tomorrow -- delivery of a washer and dryer. Not sure how I'm going to handle that."

Some Wright activists were critical of the back-room nature of the discussions.

"The numbers are changing, it seems like on an hourly basis," said Jay Pritchard, executive director of Stop-and-Think, a nonprofit group that received at least $1 million in funding from American Airlines. "We would just like to know what's being negotiated and what's on the table."

Friends of Love Field, a neighborhood group pushing for immediate repeal of the Wright Amendment, said the private negotiations were markedly different from the last effort to review the airport's use.

The Love Field master plan was drafted in 2001 with the help of more than 50 people, including neighbors and council members, said William Foster, a member of the group.

"Now, we feel it's incredibly arrogant that two people from Dallas and Fort Worth are coming together" and trying to undo the work done in 2001, he told Dallas council members Wednesday. "They're going forward without our input."

He also raised objections to the city's expressed interest in closing the former Legend Airlines terminal to commercial airline traffic.

"It is a moneymaking airport," he said of Love Field. "We're killing the golden calf. If you have a golden calf, you don't take one leg at a time and eat it until the calf is gone."

WHAT HAPPENED

Dallas, Fort Worth, and American and Southwest airlines moved toward a compromise on the Wright Amendment on Wednesday night.

Moratorium: Eight-year moratorium on new long-haul routes from Dallas Love Field.

Ticketing: Immediate connecting ticketing to distant cities from Love.

Gates: Significantly fewer gates at Love, reducing its challenge to D/FW Airport.

WHAT'S NEXT

Congress gets to chew on it, and there's no guarantee it will go along with any local agreement.

KEY WRIGHT AMENDMENT DATES

1966: The first 176 acres for Dallas/Fort Worth Airport are purchased.

1979: Congress passes the Wright Amendment to the International Air Transportation Competition Act limiting Southwest Airlines flights at Love Field to Texas and adjacent states.

1997: Congress revises the Wright Amendment to ease flight restrictions at Love and permit nonstop service to Alabama, Mississippi and Kansas.

Nov. 13, 2004: Southwest Airlines Chief Executive Gary Kelly stirs up a storm by suggesting that the Wright Amendment is outdated and bad for consumers.

May 26, 2005: Republican congressmen Sam Johnson of Plano and Jeb Hensarling of Dallas announce the filing of the Right to Fly Act, which would repeal the Wright Amendment.

Oct. 15, 2005: Rep. Joe Barton, R-Arlington, says he considers the Wright Amendment issue "dead."

Nov. 18, 2005: The House and Senate approve a bill with a provision exempting Missouri from the Wright Amendment.

Dec. 13, 2005: Southwest Airlines initiates its first nonstop flights from Love Field to St. Louis and Kansas City, and American Airlines announces it will do the same in March.

March 2, 2006: American Airlines begins service to St. Louis and Kansas City from Love.

March 7, 2006: The Fort Worth City Council votes to try to negotiate a settlement to the Wright Amendment dispute with Dallas by Aug. 1.

March 8, 2006: The Dallas City Council unanimously asks Congress to postpone action on the Wright Amendment until after June 14, giving it and Fort Worth time to negotiate a deal.

Wednesday: The Dallas and Fort Worth mayors near an agreement on the Wright Amendment.

SOURCE: Star-Telegram research

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Trebor Banstetter, 817-390-7064 tbanstetter@star-telegram.com David Wethe, 817-685-3803 dwethe@star-telegram.com

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Copyright (c) 2006, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Texas

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Source: Fort Worth Star-Telegram (Fort Worth, Texas)

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