Well, well, at least Laura Miller took a meeting over the Wright Amendment.
The article is great until the last two paragraphs, where the usual suspects beat their chests over the defense of Ft. Worth and DFW, ignoring their duplicity over Alliance (not that I have a strong opinion <_< )
Miller weighs Love Field stance
Mayor looks for 'win-win' after meeting with Southwest exec
01:34 PM CST on Friday, December 17, 2004
By EMILY RAMSHAW / The Dallas Morning News
Dallas Mayor Laura Miller may be softening her stance on efforts to eliminate flight restrictions at Dallas Love Field.
Miller said she's concerned that airfares in the Dallas area are too high
After meeting Thursday with Southwest Airlines Co. chairman Herb Kelleher, the mayor said she could envision some day lifting the Wright amendment if it wouldn't hurt Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport.
"I may stay opposed, I may not stay opposed," she said. "There's got to be a win-win."
Ms. Miller said she's concerned that airfares in the Dallas area are too high and that other cities are getting more tourist and convention business as a result.
So far, Ms. Miller has argued that the best way to keep airfares low is to bring a new low-cost carrier to D/FW to replace routes that Delta Air Lines Inc. plans to abandon next month.
As Dallas' mayor, Ms. Miller is a board member at D/FW, the nation's third-busiest airport.
But on Thursday, she seemed to be considering alternatives.
Southwest has "given me a lot of information to sort out," Ms. Miller said.
Mr. Kelleher and other airline officials compared a Dallas without the Wright amendment to Houston. It has a thriving international airport, Bush Intercontinental, and a strong inner city facility, Houston Hobby Airport.
Southwest officials also assured Ms. Miller that lifting the Wright amendment won't lead to a huge influx of flights from the discounter, creating a significant threat to D/FW.
The meeting was held in the Jim Wright conference room at Southwest's Love Field headquarters.
Mr. Wright, a former speaker of the U.S. House from Fort Worth, spearheaded the Love Field legislation in 1979.
"The meeting was very productive," said Ron Ricks, senior vice president for law, airports and public affairs at Southwest.
"It was a refreshing change to have a discussion about facts, rather than the heated emotional rhetoric and historical baggage that usually comes with this issue," he said.
"We were not lobbying her in the political sense," Mr. Ricks said. "We asked her for no commitments, and she offered no commitments. She said she was open-minded about the issue."
Over the next two months, Ms. Miller said, she will research the issue and then discuss her findings with the City Council.
Positions
The Wright amendment limits flights from Love Field to cities in Texas and nearby states.
On Nov. 12, Southwest changed its long-held neutral position on the restrictions, saying D/FW no longer needs protection from competition.
Officials for D/FW and American Airlines Inc. said they continue to support the Wright amendment, as did city officials from Dallas and Fort Worth.
A week after Southwest's announcement, Ms. Miller and Fort Worth Mayor Mike Moncrief sent letters to the Texas congressional delegation – on D/FW letterhead – expressing deep concerns about changing the amendment.
"A deal is a deal, and it is our belief that Southwest should continue to operate within the limits of the deal to which it agreed," the letter said.
Questions
On Thursday, Ms. Miller said Southwest's announcement caught her off guard.
She said she was already worried about Delta's decision to close its hub at D/FW, and she said the airport is strapped with debt from construction of a new terminal.
"I was alarmed by their announcement," she said. "I was happy at the urging of the D/FW Airport to sign a joint letter saying, don't lift the Wright amendment right now."
After sending the letter, Ms. Miller called Southwest and asked to set up a meeting.
She said she wanted to know details: whether lifting the amendment would bring more employees to Dallas, and what the economic impact would be on the city.
Ms. Miller was also concerned that it would bring a flood of new flights over the city.
The mayor said she told Mr. Moncrief she'd be meeting with both Southwest and American officials.
Mr. Moncrief couldn't be reached for comment Thursday.
But Jim Lane, a Fort Worth City Council member, said he doesn't see how lifting the Wright amendment could be a "win-win." It wouldn't benefit either D/FW Airport or people living near Love Field, he said.
"The only thing Fort Worth is interested in is protecting D/FW," he said.
D/FW's chief operating officer, Kevin Cox, said: "The mayor has stated her support of the Wright amendment, and it will remain our top legislative priority."
Chris Heinbaugh of WFAA and staff writers Suzanne Marta and Jeff Mosier contributed to this report.
