DALLAS – Early morning thunderstorms did not delay the first flight out of Dallas Love Field to mark the end of Wright Amendment restrictions on Monday.
Southwest Airlines Flight 1013 (numbered in honor of the date, October 13) departed on time for Denver. Gary Kelly, the airline's CEO, collected tickets from those first passengers.
The Wright Amendment, named for former Fort Worth Congressman Jim Wright, was put in place to limit commercial air traffic from Love Field in order to help a then-fledgling D/FW Airport grow. Among the restrictions was that no commercial carrier could fly to a non-contiguous state from the Dallas airport.
Those rules meant Southwest - which made its home at Love Field 43 years ago - and other airlines had to first stop in other cities like Houston, St. Louis, Birmingham, or El Paso in order to get to larger destinations from Dallas. With the Wright Amendment now history, Southwest can fly coast-to-coast from Dallas.
"This is a great day for Dallas, Texas, for Southwest Airlines, and for Love Field!" Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings told the crowd.
Air traffic at the airport is expected to nearly double now that the Wright Amendment has expired.
On Monday, Southwest began direct flights to Chicago, Baltimore, Washington D.C., Orlando, Las Vegas, and Los Angeles. The airline is adding eight more cities next month.
"What's most important is the great service and the options this provides the people in the metroplex," said Southwest Airlines Senior Vice President Business Development Dave Ridley. "Six-and-a-half million people in the North Texas area now have the freedom to fly all across the country out of convenient Love Field."
Virgin America also moved its operations from D/FW Airport to Love Field. Sir Richard Branson, founder of the Virgin Group which is a minority investor in Virgin America, joined local lawmakers on board the inaugural flight. It has two of the 20 gates at Love Field.
"It's a very convenient airport to get to and to fly out of," said Virgin America Chief Operating Officer Steve Forte. "As you can see, it's nice and open. Big security checkpoint. Very efficient layout of the airport, with the two parallel runways and the terminal in the middle."
Virgin already flew from LAX and San Francisco, but it began non-stop to Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. Later this month, Virgin begins direct service to New York's LaGuardia Airport.
There was a significantly large police presence inside and outside the terminal for the event Monday, including officers with AR-15 rifles. The police department said it was not in response to a threat.
"We have elevated our security posture due to the expiration of the Wright Amendment and additional attention," said Maj. Max Geron in a tweet to News 8. "Some temporary."
Still, the image of police with rifles was jarring on a day the city and airlines hoped to celebrate.
The City of Dallas invested more than $500 million to build a new terminal at Love Field, a larger baggage claim, and more parking.
