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Sometime in the next two weeks, Dallas officials will unveil a proposal to solve the dilemma over the Wright Amendment, Dallas Mayor Laura Miller said Thursday. But it's unclear whether Fort Worth will be on board.
"Sooner than later, we are going to offer up to Congress what we think is a very, very smart, wonderful, terrific local solution," Miller said in a lunchtime speech to the Greater Dallas Chamber of Commerce. "I look forward to doing that very, very shortly with the Dallas City Council and the Fort Worth City Council." Fort Worth Mayor Mike Moncrief said Thursday that "ideally" his city council would agree with the Dallas proposal -- "but we're not there yet."
The two mayors, who have been the chief negotiators in an effort to craft a local response to pressure from Southwest Airlines and legislators to repeal the law, say they're making progress. Several sources close to the negotiations said that a compromise would primarily involve phasing out the Wright Amendment restrictions on long-haul flights out of Dallas Love Field and reducing the number of gates there.
Officials for Fort Worth-based American Airlines and Dallas-based Southwest declined to comment. Southwest is pushing to open up Love Field to nonstop flights throughout the country, while American wants to see the airport shut down. U.S. Reps. Kay Granger, R-Fort Worth, and Joe Barton, R-Arlington, requested that the Government Accountability Office, the investigative office of Congress, to conduct a formal study of alternative uses for Love Field and the potential financial benefits of redeveloping the airport.
In a May 11 letter to the office, they asked that the study disclose how much taxpayers might save if Love Field is closed, and whether Dallas/Fort Worth Airport could accommodate the airport's traffic. But Miller objected Thursday to any talk of closing the airport down. "I continue to be somewhat surprised and amused by all the conversations about closing Love Field, because that's just not going to happen," she said.
Defining the length of time to phase out the Wright Amendment and when certain cities would be exempted continue to be sticking points in the negotiations, according to the sources, who declined to be named because of the sensitivity of the talks. The mayors would also have to determine how many gates should be reduced from Love Field's master plan, which is capped at 32. Only 19 are in use.
Gary Kelly, chief executive of Dallas-based Southwest, said Wednesday that his company would be willing to give up some the gates it has under lease that are not being used. Both mayors declined to give any specifics about a proposed deal, which Miller said has not yet been drafted.
The mayors are eagerly awaiting the results of a Dallas-commissioned study that would estimate how repealing the law would affect the passenger traffic, noise and street congestion in the Love Field area. It's expected to be made public sometime around June 14, when the Dallas City Council will meet for the last time before a recess that will last until Aug. 1. Dallas council members set a deadline of June 14 for coming up with a solution to the Wright Amendment squabbles, while Fort Worth set an Aug. 1 deadline.
"Fort Worth is very much in sync with Dallas," Miller said. "I know Mike keeps talking about August, so that'll get worked out. I'm not certainly pushing Fort Worth's timetable. I just know the two cities are working in concert with one another and it's going well." Miller's confident tone comes as some congressmen are once again turning up the heat in the debate over whether to repeal the law that restricts most nonstop flights from Love Field to cities in Texas and eight nearby states.
Reps. Jeb Hensarling, R-Dallas, and Sam Johnson, R-Plano, told reporters Thursday in a news conference at Love Field that they are renewing their efforts to repeal the 1979 law. The news conference was held at the vacant six-gate terminal built for now-defunct Legend Airlines in the late 1990s on the airport's northeast side, along Lemmon Avenue. The city of Dallas does not own the building. But talk has circulated over the past several months that its demolition could be an issue that both mayors and the airlines have been discussing.
Miller declined to say whether tearing down the terminal would be part of the final proposal. "It's all part of what we're discussing, and I just don't want to discuss any details right now," she said. But Alan Naul, asset manager for Love Terminal Partners, which owns the former Legend terminal, told the Star-Telegram that his company is close to signing a deal to sell the facility to a publicly traded airline. Naul, who declined to name the carrier, said he hopes to announce a deal sometime in the next couple of weeks.
Hensarling said his bill, which would immediately allow nonstop flights from Love Field to all 50 states, gained five more co-sponsors, bringing the total to 51. He added that he was disappointed that local leaders have not been able to get anything worked out yet, but he also complimented both mayors for working hard to try to reach an agreement.
Both mayors said whatever Congress does now won't affect their discussions. "No one should be surprised that on June 1, they don't have anything from us," Miller told reporters after her speech. "But we've made enormous progress, and I really believe that what we're going to offer up is something that should be adopted." Miller stopped short of making any guarantees that Congress would agree with Dallas' plan, but she sounded hopeful.
"I think if we produce a really sound proposal that makes sense for everybody and both cities are solidly behind it," Miller said, "then Congress, I would think, has to seriously consider that." |
