Monday, January 13, 2025

Question: Why doesn’t Southwest Airlines fly out of Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport?

Answer: Founded in 1967, Southwest Airlines did not sign the 1968 agreement between the carriers flying out of Dallas Love Field to move their operations to the new Dallas-Fort Worth Regional Airport, which was then under development. Southwest was sued in 1971 by the cities of Dallas and Fort Worth and the DFW Airport Board to prevent it from using Love Field as its base of operations, but a federal court ruled that the company could fly to locations within Texas from the airport.

When Southwest Airlines sought to expand service to other states in 1979, local leaders worried that the move would cripple the financial stability of the new regional airport. In response, U.S. Rep. Jim Wright of Fort Worth authored legislation restricting flights out of Love Field to locations in Texas and its four neighboring states. The Wright Amendment was partially repealed in 2006 and fully repealed in 2014.