Dallas Love Field
| Dallas Love Field | |
|---|---|
|
|
| Characteristics | |
| ICAO code | KDAL |
| IATA code | DAL |
| Coordinates | |
| Height above MSL | 148 m (486 ft ) |
| Transport links | |
| Distance from the city center | 8 km northeast of Dallas |
| Street | Interstate 35 , Dallas North Tollway |
| Local transport | Dallas Area Rapid Transit |
| Basic data | |
| opening | October 19, 1917 |
| operator | Dallas Department of Aviation |
| surface | 526 ha |
| Terminals | 2 |
| Passengers | 16,780,158 (2019) |
| Flight movements |
231,879 (2019) |
| Runways | |
| 13L / 31R | 2363 m × 46 m concrete |
| 13R / 31L | 2682 m × 46 m concrete |
| 18/36 | 1874 m × 46 m asphalt |
Dallas Love Field ( IATA code : DAL , ICAO code : KDAL ) is a public airport in Dallas , Texas in the United States . Love Field was the most important airport in the region until the Dallas / Fort Worth Airport opened in 1974 . Today Love Field is the main hub for the airline Southwest Airlines . After many years of political and legal disputes, Virgin America and Delta Air Lines were also able to offer flights to and from Love Field. Virgin America has since been taken over by Alaska Airlines .
history
Until 1960
Love Field opened as a military airfield near Bachman Lake on October 19, 1917 . The airport's name comes from First Lieutenant Moss Lee Love, who was killed in a plane crash in San Diego , California . Love Field was opened for civil aviation in 1927.
Love Field's first terminal building was inaugurated on October 20, 1957 and opened to general air traffic on January 20, 1958. The terminal originally had three waiting lounges with 26 piers. The airport was served by American Airlines, Braniff Airlines , Continental Airlines , Delta Airlines and Trans-Texas Airways (later Texas International Airlines).
The first jet aircraft served the airport from April 1, 1959 with the use of the Vickers Viscount turboprop aircraft by Continental Airlines. The first flights with jet engines began on July 12, 1959 by American Airlines with the Boeing 707 to New York.
1960s
When the two cities of Dallas and Fort Worth signed an agreement in the late 1960s to jointly build the Dallas / Fort Worth Regional Airport (later Dallas / Fort Worth Airport), it was intended to limit passenger traffic in their own urban airports. In addition, the Greater Southwest International Airport in Fort Worth, not far from the new airport, was closed and converted into the CentrePort industrial park. Love Field in Dallas remained open as a vital part of North Texas' aviation infrastructure.
1970s
In 1971 Southwest Airlines was founded with headquarters in Love Field. The main business of the new airlines was cheap flights between Dallas, Houston and San Antonio . The approach at the time was that the advantages of the relatively short flights within Texas would be negated by the long drive to the new airport.
Following a lawsuit brought by Southwest Airlines against the city of Dallas, the judges ruled that the city should not prohibit the airline from operating Love Field while the airport remains open. The other airlines signed contracts with the operators of the new airport, which precluded them from operating Love Field. After the opening of Dallas / Fort Worth, Southwest was the only airline that offered flights to and from Love Field.
The drastic reduction in air traffic in Love Field made it necessary to find new uses for the terminals that were no longer in use. From November 1975 to May 1978 one of the waiting halls was used for an amusement park called Llove Entertainment Complex , which consisted of cinemas, an ice and roller skating rink, a large arcade, restaurants and a bowling alley.
Several other buildings were increasingly used by Southwest for work and training purposes in the course of the next few years.
Wright Amendment
After air traffic in the United States was deregulated in 1978 by the Airline Deregulation Act , Southwest announced the goal of expanding passenger traffic in Love Field and also offering flights to other states. The airline's plans were rejected by the operating cities of the new Dallas / Fort Worth airport . The congressman and later Speaker of the House Jim Wright put a new law before a compromise solution designed to protect Dallas / Fort Worth, which also passed by Congress and became known as the Wright Amendment. Love Field's passenger flights with more than 56 passengers were restricted to destinations in Texas and the four neighboring states of Louisiana , Arkansas , Oklahoma and New Mexico . The law is controversial to this day and has seen several changes that should make Love Field an attractive airport again.
Over the next several years, Southwest expanded its flights from Love Field to locations in the five states and became one of the most successful low-cost airlines in the United States.
1980s and 1990s
With the success of Southwest there was again increased interest from other airlines to offer flights to and from Love Field. Southwest co-founder Lamar Muse founded Muse Air in 1982 , which focused on short-haul DC-9 and MD-80 flights between Love Field and Houston. When Muse Air competed long-term unsuccessfully with Southwest, Southwest bought the airline in 1985, renamed it TranStar Airlines and ceased operations in 1987. In 1985, Continental Airlines showed increased interest in flying to Love Field again, which led to long-term legal disputes with the city of Fort Worth and the operating company of Dallas / Fort Worth over the interpretation of the Wright Amendment. The city of Dallas, in turn, actively lobbyed in 1992 to repeal the law because it saw great economic potential in additional air traffic. In 1997, Congress passed the Shelby Amendment, named after MP Richard Shelby , which from now on also allowed flights from Love Field to Kansas , Mississippi and Alabama .
As a result of the Shelby Amendment, Continental, Delta Airlines and Legend Airlines began preparations to offer flights from Love Field. Fort Worth filed a lawsuit against Dallas to prevent implementation of the new law. American Airlines joined the lawsuit on the Fort Worth side, but stated that it would also offer flights out of Love Field if other airlines were allowed to do so. After a year of further legal battles, Continental became the first new airline since 1974 to include Love Field in its destinations. American Airlines also began serving Love Field, but continued to take legal action to prevent the airport from expanding. Fort Worth and American Airlines together sued the United States Department of Transportation to prevent further flights from Love Field.
Since 2000
Various United States Court of Appeals rejected all appeals against the Shelby Amendment in 2000, and another appeal to the US Supreme Court failed. As a result, Delta and Legend also set up flights from Love Field, with the offer mainly aimed at business travelers due to the continued size restrictions of 56 passengers per flight.
After the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 , the demand in American air traffic fell suddenly, especially in the business traveler segment. Over the next few years, most airlines ended their service in Love Field, with only Southwest and Continental Express remaining in 2003.
In 2002 Love Field celebrated its 85th anniversary and in 2003 it was listed on the Texas State Historical Sites list. The Frontiers of Flight Museum opened in the north of the airport after a smaller museum was set up in the terminal.
On November 30, 2005, Missouri was added as an additional state that Love Field can fly directly to. This new option was taken advantage of by Southwest with flights to St. Louis and Kansas City . American Airlines returned to Love Field on March 2, 2006 with flights to St. Louis, Kansas City, Austin and San Antonio.
At the instigation of Texas Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison and Congresswoman Kay Granger , the restrictions of the Wright Amendment were further reduced by a new law on October 13, 2006. Direct flights from Love Field to locations outside of the previously permitted states will be possible without restrictions from 2014. Passengers can book tickets from Love Field to locations outside the “Wright Zone” before 2014, provided the flights make a stopover in one of the states mentioned or a change of aircraft is necessary there. The maximum number of gates available at Love Field has been reduced from 32 to 20, of which Southwest has 16 and American Airlines and United Airlines have two each. No other airline is allowed to offer flights to or from Love Field. Southwest announced on October 17 that they would be offering flights to 25 locations outside of the previously permitted states within two days.
Traffic figures
| year | Passenger volume | Flight movements |
|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 16,780,158 | 231,879 |
| 2018 | 16.229.151 | 231.110 |
| 2017 | 15,723,627 | 227,533 |
| 2016 | 15,562,738 | 224.193 |
| 2015 | 14,497,498 | 216.099 |
| 2014 | 9,413,636 | 182,949 |
| 2013 | 8,470,586 | 177.417 |
| 2012 | 8,173,927 | 177,608 |
| 2011 | 7.980.020 | 179.196 |
| 2010 | 7,960,809 | 168,544 |
| 2009 | 7,744,522 | 172.962 |
| 2008 | 8,060,792 | 218,640 |
| 2007 | 7,953,385 | 244609 |
| 2006 | 6,874,717 | 248,805 |
| 2005 | 5,896,765 | 234,615 |
| 2004 | 5,889,756 | 249,400 |
| 2003 | 5,588,930 | 249.085 |
| 2002 | 5,622,754 | 245,564 |
| 2001 | 6,685,618 | 243,884 |
| 2000 | 7,077,549 | 256,790 |
| 1999 | 6,820,867 | 249,440 |
| 1998 | 6,715,596 | 236.907 |
| 1997 | 6,807,894 | 228.429 |
| 1996 | 7,064,515 | 222,726 |
Busiest routes
| rank | city | Passengers | airline |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Houston – Hobby , Texas | 590.920 | Southwest |
| 2 | Atlanta , Georgia | 381.720 | Delta , Southwest |
| 3 | Denver , Colorado | 338.080 | Southwest |
| 4th | San Antonio , Texas | 336.160 | Southwest |
| 5 | Austin , Texas | 312,520 | Southwest |
| 6th | Los Angeles , California | 299,790 | Alaska , Southwest |
| 7th | Chicago – Midway , Illinois | 295.930 | Southwest |
| 8th | Phoenix , Arizona | 280.740 | Southwest |
| 9 | Las Vegas , Nevada | 254,490 | Southwest |
| 10 | New Orleans , Louisiana | 245,690 | Southwest |
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d Passenger Statistics. Dallas-LoveField.com, accessed March 31, 2020 .
- ↑ a b Aircraft Operations Statistics. Dallas-LoveField.com, accessed March 31, 2020 .
- ↑ http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d109:SN03661:@@@R%7C/bss/d109query.html
- ^ Dallas, TX: Dallas Love Field (DAL). Transtats.BTS.gov , accessed March 31, 2020 .
Abilene | Amarillo | Austin (Bergstrom) | Brownsville | Corpus Christi | Dallas (Love Field) | Dallas / Fort Worth | El Paso | Harlingen | Houston (Bush) | Houston (Ellington) | Houston (hobby) | Laredo | Lubbock | McAllen | Midland (Airpark) | Midland (International) | San Antonio | Wichita Falls
Military: Dyess | Ellington | Lackland | Randolph | Sheppard
Closed: Austin (Mueller) | Fort Worth (Greater Southwest) | Houston (Andrau)