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Dallas/Fort Worth Airport Tries to Woo Southwest Airlines

Posted on: Wednesday, 13 July 2005, 00:00 CDT

Jul. 9--DALLAS -- In a reversal of tone if not of the message, Dallas/Fort Worth Airport officials are again beseeching Southwest Airlines to fly out of their airport regardless of what the carrier does at Love Field.

Three busloads of D/FW staffers stood outside Love Field on Friday morning to whoop and holler -- exchanging hardball rhetoric for full-on wooing.

"Who do we want? Southwest Airlines! When do we want them? Now!" the group cheered as a tow plane flew above pulling the message "Travelers Want Southwest at D/FW NOW!"

Jeff Fegan, D/FW's chief executive, and Kevin Cox, the chief operating officer, and at least two executive vice presidents were in the crowd.

Joe Lopano, executive vice president of marketing and revenue management at D/FW, unveiled a study that was conducted at D/FW during the July 4 weekend that shows that most D/FW passengers who were questioned want Southwest to fly at D/FW.

"We're lovers, not fighters," Lopano said of the change in D/FW's tone.

As the latest political battle over the Wright Amendment has evolved, D/FW has been in the undesirable position of criticizing the same airline it's trying to entice into occupying its empty gates at Terminal E.

D/FW wants to bring a discount carrier to Terminal E, which has been sitting largely empty since Delta Air Lines drastically cut service at D/FW early this year.

At the same time, Southwest is trying to persuade lawmakers to repeal the Wright Amendment, the federal restriction on long-haul flights at its home base of Dallas Love Field, so that the carrier can grow there. D/FW and American Airlines have been at the forefront of the effort to keep the amendment.

But D/FW also wants Southwest to fly out of Terminal E.

"Southwest can say no, but I'm not going to quit asking," Lopano said. "There are a lot of jobs at stake."

A U.S. Transportation Department impact study shows that D/FW, which has 1,600 employees but is also a regional catalyst for jobs, can be tied to 268,500 full-time jobs and $6 billion in payroll.

D/FW officials say they believe that a repeal of the Wright Amendment would result in flights being shifted away from their airport, jeopardize local jobs and, by extension, hurt North Texas. American spokesman Tim Wagner said much the same thing Friday.

Southwest officials say the Wright Amendment has impeded economic growth in North Texas, including at D/FW.

Despite the upbeat tone of Friday's event, no change was made in D/FW's argument about the Wright Amendment. The issue, in fact, barely came up.

Meanwhile, full-page advertisements in local newspapers loudly proclaimed the same message as the tow plane.

"We're about to get serious about telling people about this," D/FW spokesman Ken Capps said.

Friday's event was part of the $350,000 first phase of a marketing program approved by the D/FW Airport board last year.

It includes ads in major U.S. newspapers and publications in Washington, D.C. A second phase, if necessary, would need to be approved by the board.

Southwest shows no signs of budging.

"D/FW's effort does not change our opinion or business reasons not to move flights to D/FW Airport, and we're happy with our home at Love Field, and we're still pushing for full repeal of the Wright Amendment," Southwest spokeswoman Brandy King said.

D/FW AIRPORT CUSTOMER SURVEY:

--The D/FW customer survey asked a single question: "Would you like to see Southwest Airlines fly out of D/FW Airport?" The interviewer script did not contain follow-up questions about the factors that went into the answer.

--A third-party group surveyed 2,714 passengers intercepted in the D/FW terminals from July 2 through July 5.

--62 percent of all participants answered yes; 11 percent answered no; 27 percent had no opinion.

Source: D/FW Airport

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To see more of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.dfw.com.

Copyright (c) 2005, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Texas

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

For information on republishing this content, contact us at (800) 661-2511 (U.S.), (213) 237-4914 (worldwide), fax (213) 237-6515, or e-mail reprints@krtinfo.com.

LUV, DAL, AMR,

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

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