S. 3661

One Hundred Ninth Congress

of the

United States of America

AT THE SECOND SESSION

Begun and held at the City of Washington on Tuesday,

the third day of January, two thousand and six

An Act

To amend section 29 of the International Air Transportation Competition Act of

1979 relating to air transportation to and from Love Field, Texas.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of

the United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Wright Amendment Reform

Act of 2006’’.

SEC. 2. MODIFICATION OF PROVISIONS REGARDING FLIGHTS TO AND

FROM LOVE FIELD, TEXAS.

(a) EXPANDED SERVICE.—Section 29(c) of the International Air

Transportation Competition Act of 1979 (Public Law 96–192; 94

Stat. 35) is amended by striking ‘‘carrier, if (1)’’ and all that follows

and inserting the following: ‘‘carrier. Air carriers and, with regard

to foreign air transportation, foreign air carriers, may offer for

sale and provide through service and ticketing to or from Love

Field, Texas, and any United States or foreign destination through

any point within Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Kansas, Arkansas,

Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, or Alabama.’’.

(b) REPEAL.—Section 29 of the International Air Transportation

Competition Act of 1979 (94 Stat. 35), as amended by subsection

(a), is repealed on the date that is 8 years after the date of enactment of this Act.

SEC. 3. TREATMENT OF INTERNATIONAL NONSTOP FLIGHTS TO AND

FROM LOVE FIELD, TEXAS.

No person shall provide, or offer to provide, air transportation

of passengers for compensation or hire between Love Field, Texas,

and any point or points outside the 50 States or the District of

Columbia on a nonstop basis, and no official or employee of the

Federal Government may take any action to make or designate

Love Field as an initial point of entry into the United States

or a last point of departure from the United States.

SEC. 4. CHARTER FLIGHTS AT LOVE FIELD, TEXAS.

(a) IN GENERAL.—Charter flights (as defined in section 212.2

of title 14, Code of Federal Regulations) at Love Field, Texas,

shall be limited to—

(1) destinations within the 50 States and the District of

Columbia; and

(2) no more than 10 per month per air carrier for charter

flights beyond the States of Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma,

Kansas, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, and Alabama.
S. 3661—2

(b) CARRIERS WHO LEASE GATES.—All flights operated to or

from Love Field by air carriers that lease terminal gate space

at Love Field shall depart from and arrive at one of those leased

gates; except for—

(1) flights operated by an agency of the Federal Government

or by an air carrier under contract with an agency of the

Federal Government; and

(2) irregular operations.

(c) CARRIERS WHO DO NOT LEASE GATES.—Charter flights from

Love Field, Texas, operated by air carriers that do not lease terminal

space at Love Field may operate from nonterminal facilities or

one of the terminal gates at Love Field.

SEC. 5. LOVE FIELD GATES.

(a) IN GENERAL.—The city of Dallas, Texas, shall reduce as

soon as practicable, the number of gates available for passenger

air service at Love Field to no more than 20 gates. Thereafter,

the number of gates available for such service shall not exceed

a maximum of 20 gates. The city of Dallas, pursuant to its authority

to operate and regulate the airport as granted under chapter 22

of the Texas Transportation Code and this Act, shall determine

the allocation of leased gates and manage Love Field in accordance

with contractual rights and obligations existing as of the effective

date of this Act for certificated air carriers providing scheduled

passenger service at Love Field on July 11, 2006. To accommodate

new entrant air carriers, the city of Dallas shall honor the scarce

resource provision of the existing Love Field leases.

(b) REMOVAL OF GATES AT LOVE FIELD.—No Federal funds

or passenger facility charges may be used to remove gates at the

Lemmon Avenue facility, Love Field, in reducing the number of

gates as required under this Act, but Federal funds or passenger

facility charges may be used for other airport facilities under

chapter 471 of title 49, United States Code.

(c) GENERAL AVIATION.—Nothing in this Act shall affect general

aviation service at Love Field, including flights to or from Love

Field by general aviation aircraft for air taxi service, private or

sport flying, aerial photography, crop dusting, corporate aviation,

medical evacuation, flight training, police or fire fighting, and

similar general aviation purposes, or by aircraft operated by any

agency of the Federal Government or by any air carrier under

contract to any agency of the Federal Government.

(d) ENFORCEMENT.—

(1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other provision of

law, the Secretary of Transportation and the Administrator

of the Federal Aviation Administration may not make findings

or determinations, issue orders or rules, withhold airport

improvement grants or approvals thereof, deny passenger

facility charge applications, or take any other actions, either

self-initiated or on behalf of third parties—

(A) that are inconsistent with the contract dated July

11, 2006, entered into by the city of Dallas, the city of

Fort Worth, the DFW International Airport Board, and

others regarding the resolution of the Wright Amendment

issues, unless actions by the parties to the contract are

not reasonably necessary to implement such contract; or

(B) that challenge the legality of any provision of such

contract.
S. 3661—3

(2) COMPLIANCE WITH TITLE 49 REQUIREMENTS.—A contract

described in paragraph (1)(A) of this subsection, and any actions

taken by the parties to such contract that are reasonably necessary to implement its provisions, shall be deemed to comply

in all respects with the parties’ obligations under title 49,

United States Code.

(e) LIMITATION ON STATUTORY CONSTRUCTION.—

(1) IN GENERAL.—Nothing in this Act shall be construed—

(A) to limit the obligations of the parties under the

programs of the Department of Transportation and the

Federal Aviation Administration relating to aviation safety,

labor, environmental, national historic preservation, civil

rights, small business concerns (including disadvantaged

business enterprise), veteran’s preference, disability access,

and revenue diversion;

(B) to limit the authority of the Department of

Transportation or the Federal Aviation Administration to

enforce the obligations of the parties under the programs

described in subparagraph (A);

(C) to limit the obligations of the parties under the

security programs of the Department of Homeland Security,

including the Transportation Security Administration, at

Love Field, Texas;

(D) to authorize the parties to offer marketing incentives that are in violation of Federal law, rules, orders,

agreements, and other requirements; or

(E) to limit the authority of the Federal Aviation

Administration or any other Federal agency to enforce

requirements of law and grant assurances (including subsections (a)(1), (a)(4), and (s) of section 47107 of title 49,

United States Code) that impose obligations on Love Field

to make its facilities available on a reasonable and nondiscriminatory basis to air carriers seeking to use such

facilities, or to withhold grants or deny applications to

applicants violating such obligations with respect to Love

Field.

(2) FACILITIES.—Paragraph (1)(E)—

(A) shall only apply with respect to facilities that

remain at Love Field after the city of Dallas has reduced

the number of gates at Love Field as required by subsection

(a); and

(B) shall not be construed to require the city of Dallas,

Texas—

(i) to construct additional gates beyond the 20

gates referred to in subsection (a); or

(ii) to modify or eliminate preferential gate leases

with air carriers in order to allocate gate capacity

to new entrants or to create common use gates, unless

such modification or elimination is implemented on

a nationwide basis.

SEC. 6. APPLICABILITY.

The provisions of this Act shall apply to actions taken with

respect to Love Field, Texas, or air transportation to or from Love

Field, Texas, and shall have no application to any other airport

(other than an airport owned or operated by the city of Dallas

or the city of Fort Worth, or both).
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SEC. 7. EFFECTIVE DATE.

Sections 1 through 6, including the amendments made by such

sections, shall take effect on the date that the Administrator of

the Federal Aviation Administration notifies Congress that aviation

operations in the airspace serving Love Field and the Dallas-Fort

Worth area which are likely to be conducted after enactment of

this Act can be accommodated in full compliance with Federal

Aviation Administration safety standards in accordance with section

40101 of title 49, United States Code, and, based on current expectations, without adverse effect on use of airspace in such area.

Speaker of the House of Representatives.

Vice President of the United States and

President of the Senate.