Southwest Airlines and Dallas Love Field are approaching another pivotal moment in their long and complicated history as another ghost of the Wright Amendment fades away.
Starting in 2025, Southwest Airlines can expand to any airport in the region without giving up coveted space at capacity-restricted Dallas Love Field — an airport where contentious lawsuits determine how many planes can land and takeoff.
It could determine whether Southwest Airlines keeps Dallas Love Field as its sole base of operations in Dallas-Fort Worth or if the urban airport is allowed to grow again after facing decades of federal restrictions meant to protect rival DFW International Airport.
“Southwest has not officially said but has given strong indication that they would intend in 2025 to begin service out of DFW,” Love Field aviation director Mark Duebner said at a neighborhood meeting this week. “Southwest is on the record saying that for an airline to survive they have to grow and Love Field is capped at 20 gates so there’s no opportunity for further growth there.”
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