Seven Year Airline Drama At Dallas Love Field Settles With Government Subsidies For Delta

By law there are only 20 gates at Dallas Love Field. There used to be 32, but 12 were ordered eliminated. That was all part of a deal that,

• Lifted Wright Amendment restrictions on where flights could go from the airport
• Limited competition for American Airlines flights out of Dallas – Fort Worth
• And gave Southwest Airlines a stranglehold on the smaller airport

The airport's 20 gates are out of the way.

• Southwest Airlines leased 16
• United Airlines leased two. Delta was using one of those gates. But United got a better deal leasing them to Southwest, giving the Dallas-based carrier control of 18 gates
• American Airlines had two gates, but gave them up as a condition of government-approval for their US Airways merger. The gates went to Virgin America, and are now controlled by Alaska Airlines which acquired Virgin.

Southwest had 18 gates, Alaska had 2, and Delta didn't have a gate. The Department of Transportation said that the City of Dallas had to accommodate Delta at Love Field even though it couldn't legally build more gates and Southwest had a valid lease for the gate.

The FAA threatened to make the City of Dallas ineligible for FAA grant funds if they didn't comply with their Federal grant obligations.

People ended up in court. American Airlines said they wanted gates at Love Field as well. They were basically making fun of people. Half the time, Delta squatted on a gate.

It has been seven years since a settlement was reached.

• Alaska Airlines doesn’t actually want to use two gates at Love Field
• So Delta will use one of them
• And the City of Dallas will kick in $200,000 a year to lease the gate for Delta through 2028

Delta used to be against government subsidies for airlines, but now they are in favor.

If the federal government hadn't limited the number of gates at Love Field, and if the city hadn't destroyed the gates, there would have been a better chance of getting Congress to take action.

The Love Field has gates. They can't build more. Thank you, Congress. Southwest has a large number of gates. They leased two from United. This is 18. Virgin America controls the other two gates. The former United gates are now used by Delta. There is a big court battle going on.

In general.

Southwest Airlines was created to fight government cronyism and keep it from flying. It is the beneficiary of cronyism that is meant to keep others out of the air. Congress should be able to get the Supreme Court to reverse that. An important precedent could be fixed by the court.

In airlines.

Consumers have been hurt by the government's interference with Dallas Love Field. Don't think that the government is regulating airlines to benefit you.

In airlines.