Inhofe wants to boot Southwest Airlines from Love Field?
I don't get this.
The Whirled reported today that Sen. Jim Inhofe has introduced a bill that would force Southwest Airlines to move from Love Field in Dallas to DFW Airport.
Knowing how much the Whirled hates Sen. Inhofe, I'm sure this must be some kind of smear. I am sure that Sen. Inhofe is fully supportive of Nevada Sen. John Ensign's efforts to eliminate the anti-competitive Wright Amendment, which sacrificed the interests of the traveling public for the sake of one favored airline and one favored airport. The Wright Amendment, as originally passed by Congress in 1979, singled out Love Field and prohibited direct flights between that airport and airports in states not contiguous with Texas.
Ensign and other sponsors of the American Freedom to Fly Act want to completely repeal the Wright Amendment and allow Love Field to operate like any other airport in the country. Here are some of the idiotic restrictions that the Wright Amendment imposes:
- Restricts flights from Love Field to Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Arkansas, New Mexico, Alabama, Mississippi, and Kansas.
- Flights from Love to Alabama, Mississippi, and Kansas cannot fly on to other states, but must return to Love before flying elsewhere.
- You can't buy a through ticket from Love via another city within the Wright Amendment zone to a city beyond the zone -- e.g. Love to Tulsa to Chicago. The airline can't even tell you that such a combination is possible. You have to figure it out and buy the two tickets separately. (I don't know this, but I'll bet the airline isn't even allowed to transfer your bags to an onward flight in this situation.)
The Wright Amendment is a fitting legacy for former House Speaker Jim Wright, famous for being forced from office for ethics violations. (Remember his vanity-press book, Reflections of a Public Man, which was purchased in mass quantities by lobbyists who wanted to help him skirt outside income restrictions?) Republicans swept away much of his dubious legacy when they gained control of the House in 1995, but this is one last bit that deserves to be trashed. I'm hopeful that Oklahoma's pro-freedom, pro-competition congressional delegation will lead the way in eliminating this provision that stinks of favoritism and crony capitalism.
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According to the Dallas Morning Newspaper Southwest is the one who started the push.
Qoute on today's website
"Dallas-based Southwest appears to face some risks as a result of the campaign it launched in November to lift the Wright law, which limits commercial flights from Love to Texas and seven nearby states"
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/bus/stories/072105dnbuslove.30351e1.html
I dont know whether this is what you are talking about, but he submitted three ammendments S.AMDT.1311, S.AMDT.1312, and S.AMDT.1313 to S.1042 (http://www.congress.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d109:SN01042:) appropriations bill for the Military
The last point isn't true. SWA can't advertise those combinations, but they can certainly book them. I've flown to Nashville a couple of times that way. You have to book them via telephone (since listing them as choices on the website could be considered advertising), and you have to pay the rates for the legs. It is one route, though, because you can use a Rapid Rewards ticket for both legs of the trip. And yes, your bags go with you.
Smear? simply reporting on Inhofe's bill? Back off with the conspiracy theroy Kool-Aid, Bates.
Ever think Inhofe is being lobbied by AA?
Obviously I should have read more before I posted last night. I would have realized it's a seperate bill.
Looks like Inhofe is trying to help a company that provides jobs in Oklahoma.
Non-biased headline could have read
" Senator Inhofe introduces a bill to help a Major Tulsa Employer"
Working for an oil industry support manufacturer in the mid '80s, I often went via SWA to sw Texas, with Love serving as the intermediate step between Tulsa and the Texas destination. Too long ago to recall the details, I do recall the drift: something was screwball about SWA and Love (besides their marketing logo's use of love).
Today, on a Missouri radio station while driving home to Tulsa, I heard a newscaster's condensed blurb about Inhofe's plan regarding SWA and Love. The outline sounded so wrong, so out of character for Inhofe who is not only an aviation supporter, but a supporter of free enterprise, that I figured there must be more details. I still do.