Woo Hoo!!

[Beca]

Bush just signed the repeal of the Wright Amendment!!!

Going to WDW just got cheaper!!!

 

[seashoreCM]

Changes are going to take place very slowly, over the next ten years. The Wright Amendment provisions did not just suddenly all disappear and Southwest to begin to fly every which way this Christmas.

Disney hints:
http://members.aol.com/ajaynejr/disney.htm

 

[CarolA]

Well, it should have been repealed YEARS ago... (or at least renamed the "American Airlines unfair competetion amendment considering the money they spent lobbying for it be left in place!)

 

[bab31]

ok..going to show my ignorance..please explain...

 

[CarolA]

The Wright Amendment was passed YEARS ago when DFW was opened. Basically it limits flights from nearby Love Field to within the state of TX (and maybe someplace like OK) It was suppose to force the airlines to move to the more costly DFW and to get DFW up and running...

As time wore on the amendment outlived it's usefullness in the eyes of many. DFW is not a "start up " operation anymore....

SW has had it's base at Love for years, but has not been able to fly from there to places like MCO. Plus for some of us DFW is one of the worst airports to deal with....

 

[Beca]

Changes are going to take place very slowly, over the next ten years. The Wright Amendment provisions did not just suddenly all disappear and Southwest to begin to fly every which way this Christmas.

Disney hints:
http://members.aol.com/ajaynejr/disney.htm

Yes, that is true...but, some changes will happen immediately. Non-stops leaving Love Field cannot take place for a few more years. But, what goes into effect IMMEDIATELY is thru ticketing. So, the changes for us are pretty significant.

It used to be that, in order for us to fly SWA to Orlando, we had to purchase two sets of tickets for everyone. One from DAL-HOU, and another from HOU-MCO. That had many ramifications. First, it really increased the amount of $$$$. Even though SWA has GREAT deals from HOU-MCO (usually $89 each way), we had to tack on $49 flights from DAL-HOU. So, it would now cost each of us about $300 to fly to MCO and back, or for our family...nearly $1000 on the "low fare carrier". Needless to say, American Airlines LOVED this fact, and the monopoly they had on the DFW market. Now, it will cost less than $600 for my family of 3 to fly to MCO....effective immediately. We will still have to get off the plane in HOU and change planes, but it is much better.

The other ramification is baggage. If we flew SWA before, it was against the law for them to allow our bags to fly all the way to MCO. So, we had to allow enough time in between flights to go to baggage claim, retrieve our bags, stand in line at the ticket counter to check them in again, get back thru security and get on our plane.... a ROYAL pain in the ***. It absolutely made some connections impossible!! This was exacerbated by the "no liquids" rule because now everything HAD to be checked. It also made it impossible for us to use the Magical Express baggage option from our home. We had to tag the bags at our stop in HOU...another big pain.

We also had no "flight delay protection" when we flew to MCO. For example, say we had purchased the $89 fare from HOU-MCO. The full fare on that is over $300. Now, say there is a rain delay in DAL, and we miss our connection in HOU. We are not protected because they are two separate flights. So, we get to HOU only to discover that if we wanted to get on a plane to MCO, we now had to pay an additional $200 per person (upgrade to the full fare) to purchase "last minute" tickets on the flight. If all outbound flights were full, we would also not be given "priority stand-by" status due to our delayed flight, so we would just go to the bottom of the stand-by list. SWA was not trying to be "unhelpful" in this, but if they "recognized" a long-haul flight out of DAL in ANY way (i.e. helping delayed passengers, or putting bags all the way thru), they could lose their carrier license, and face stiff fines.

So, even though non-stops will not be allowed for a few more years, the thru-ticketing option is HUGE for those of us who want to fly SWA to MCO from DAL.

It's a really good day!!!!

 

[adrock1976]

ok..going to show my ignorance..please explain...

What is the Wright Amendment?

In 1979, Congress passed the federal law commonly referred to as the " Wright Amendment ", which restricts travel into and out of Dallas Love Field for commercial flights with more than 56 seats. This federal law makes it illegal to fly from Love Field to points beyond the four states surrounding Texas. The Wright Amendment also contains marketing restrictions, prohibiting Southwest Airlines from offering or advertising the availability of any connecting flights between Love Field and any city outside the Wright Amendment "service area." In 1997, Congress passed the Shelby Amendment, which added Alabama, Kansas, and Mississippi to the Wright Amendment service area. Legislation passed in 2005 added Missouri to list of states to be liberated from the restrictions of the Wright Amendment