http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6470540/ =20 DALLAS - Southwest Airlines Co., once officially neutral on a federal law that limits its service from Dallas, is edging toward outright opposition to the restrictions it faces at its home airport. Southwest chief executive Gary Kelly said Friday that an effort by Tennessee lawmakers to change the law and allow direct flights from Love Field to Nashville could help the Dallas airport grow. Kelly's comments could put Southwest on a collision course with American Airlines, which opposes any change in a 1979 federal law designed to protect sprawling Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, where American is the dominant carrier. The federal law prohibits all but the smallest passenger planes from flying between Love Field and anywhere beyond Texas and seven nearby states. As a result, Southwest cannot offer direct service to many U.S. big cities, such as Los Angeles and Chicago. "It's anticompetitive. That's its purpose," Kelly said. The law was passed when DFW was a new facility on open prairie 20 miles from downtown Dallas. Kelly said the law, named after former House Speaker Jim Wright of Fort Worth, is no longer needed because DFW is a booming hub for American Airlines, a unit of AMR Corp. Kelly said DFW is now one of the strongest fortress hubs in the airline industry, with American and its sister airline, American Eagle, operating more than 700 daily departures there. Evidence of American's strength, Kelly said, can be found in Delta Air Lines Inc.'s recent decision to kill its DFW hub, cutting more than 200 daily flights and leaving only a handful of remaining flights. Southwest could get around the Love Field restrictions by offering long-haul flights from DFW itself, but Kelly ruled that out on Friday in more explicit terms than he has used in the past. In September, Tennessee representatives in the U.S. House proposed adding their state to the list of approved Love Field destinations, which would clear the way for Southwest to add direct flights between Dallas and Nashville. The bill was pushed by business leaders in tourism-dependent Nashville, who acted after American reduced service to Nashville. Kelly said Southwest had nothing to do with the proposal and hasn't lobbied for its passage, but he predicted that other states might also seek to weaken the 1979 law. The Tennessee proposal faces an uncertain fate in Congress. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, has indicated skepticism, saying that Delta's retreat from DFW could harm the big airport. American, a unit of AMR Corp., has eight daily flights from DFW to Nashville. American hadn't taken a position on the Nashville proposal until Kelly's comments, when it came out against the idea. "The Wright Amendment helps preserve DFW's position as the principle aviation gateway for North Texas ... (it) made sense when it was passed and it makes sense now," said Tim Wagner, a spokesman for American. He said weakening the law would undermine DFW and hurt the Dallas-Fort Worth economy. Kevin Cox, chief operating officer at DFW, said the airport would fight any attempt to weaken the Wright Amendment. He accused Kelly of trying to scare off would-be competitors who might try to pick up Delta's gates at DFW. "This cloud created by his comments could be perceived as a shot across the bow to any other low-cost carriers if they want to serve this airport," Cox said. Cox said the restrictions on Love Field are needed to attract carriers to fill gates that Delta will abandon in January and to pay off $2.7 billion in debt for financing a new terminal, tram and runway improvements. In trading Friday, Southwest shares closed up 11 cents, or 0.7 percent, at $16 on the New York Stock Exchange. =20 =20