Dallas Mayor Plans News Conference; Everyone Else Confused

Could this be the end of an epic battle? Dallas Mayor Laura Miller is scheduled to stand before reporters at noon Thursday, to announce she's reached a compromise with Fort Worth Mayor Mike Moncrief in the ongoing war over the Wright Amendment. The decades-old legislation limits commercial flights to and from Dallas Love Field to a handful of adjoining states.

The Fort Worth Star-Telegram quotes unnamed sources who say talks are still underway between the airport, Dallas, Fort Worth... and the FAA.

There are a few snags, however... not the least of which seems to be a lack of consensus on several key points.

Numerous reports from the Dallas area seem to agree that the proposal includes provisions for through-ticketing from Love Field to anywhere in the world, as well as limits on the number of gates at Love Field to 20, in order to limit expected increases in jet traffic. Under that plan, Southwest would be allowed 16 gates, with American Airlines and Continental Airlines each snagging two.

However, the proposal also reportedly includes an eight-year moratorium on non-stop flights from Love to airports outside the area now permitted by the Wright Amendment.

The agreement is NOT expected to be the total lifting of the Wright Amendment that Southwest Airlines has sought for the past two years, and the Telegram reports Southwest executives were stunned at word there won't be a gradual phase-in of long-distance flights to and from Love during that eight-year waiting period.

Those executives are now hinting they'll oppose the measure.

"This isn’t a phaseout; it’s a cliff," one source at Southwest, who asked not to be identified, said Tuesday. "We absolutely can’t go to our employees, our customers, our supporters and say that’s a good idea."

Meanwhile, city council members in both Dallas and Fort Worth say they're not happy with the plan... and Love Field neighbors say they're confused, because the landscape of these negotiations keeps changing.

Hopefully, Mayor Miller's news conference in Dallas may shed some light on the issue... but it's likely the battle will not end. In fact... now more than ever... there seems to be every indication that the war over the Wright Amendment will rage on for some time to come.

FMI: www.setlovefree.com, www.stop-and-think.org