=20 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- This article was sent to you by someone who found it on SFGate. The original article can be found on SFGate.com here: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=3D/news/archive/2004/12/05/f= inancial1642EST0018.DTL --------------------------------------------------------------------- Sunday, December 5, 2004 (AP) Southwest Airlines working to erase limits on flights (12-05) 13:42 PST DALLAS (AP) -- Southwest Airlines Co. is promising a "grass-roots campaign" to repeal a federal amendment that restricts flights at its home airport in Dallas from flying anywhere but other cities in Texas and nearby states. Chief executive Gary Kelly said the airline intends to use the political clout it has acquired over the last 25 years to overturn the Wright Amendment. The 1979 federal law, designed to protect sprawling Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, 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 big U.S. cities, including Los Angeles and Chicago. But to overturn the law, Southwest and its allies will need to convince Congress that the Dallas-Fort Worth Airport no longer needs protection. The amendment's defenders say it's still necessary. Southwest, which has become the nation's largest airline by total domest= ic passengers, remains an underdog by traditional measures of political power, legislative experts say. Federal records show the airline and its executives make smaller politic= al campaign contributions and spend less on lobbying than opponents, including Fort Worth-based American Airlines Inc., the Dallas-Fort Worth Airport and the cities of Fort Worth and Dallas. Kelly acknowledges that Southwest is fighting an uphill battle. "I am not expecting that we are going to have any extraordinary legal fe= es and lobbying efforts to undertake here," he said. "We have got resources, so if need be, if we have to mount a more serious fight, we have got the wherewithal to see this fight through." He said the airline eventually would triumph because public sentiment is largely against the Wright Amendment. Powerful lawmakers and airport officials from other states would like to see Southwest expand service to their constituents. Southwest says it will channel public opposition to the Wright Amendment from travelers through a Web site. It also will commission a study to highlight how low airfares from long-haul Love flights would benefit the region economically. Dan Garton, executive vice president of marketing for American Airlines, said it's presumptuous to assume that pro-Wright sources would win this battle on the basis of past lobbying. American could lose customers and be forced to cut fares if Love restrictions are lifted. Officials with the Dallas-Fort Worth Airport say they will fight Southwe= st in its efforts to repeal the amendment. "This will be our highest priority in the coming congressional term," sa= id Kevin Cox, the airport's chief operating officer. Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas, the House Energy and Commerce Committee chairman, said he is "going to do more than vote against it. I will do everything I can to make sure (the repeal) doesn't pass." ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Copyright 2004 AP