II 

Calendar No. 563 

109TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3661 

[Report No. 109–317] 

To amend section 29 of the International Air Transportation Competition 

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

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 13, 2006 

Mrs. HUTCHISON (for herself, Mr. CORNYN, Mr. INHOFE, and Mr. HARKIN) 

introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the 

Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 

AUGUST 1, 2006 

Reported by Mr. STEVENS, with an amendment 

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 

A BILL 

To amend section 29 of the International Air Transportation 

Competition Act of 1979 relating to air transportation 

to and from Love Field, Texas. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 


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1 SECTION 1. MODIFICATION OF PROVISIONS REGARDING 

2 FLIGHTS TO AND FROM LOVE FIELD, TEXAS. 

3 (a) EXPANDED SERVICE.—Section 29(c) of the Inter4 national Air Transportation Competition Act of 1979 

5 (Public Law 96–192; 94 Stat. 48 et seq.), as previously 

6 amended by section 337 of Public Law 105–66, 111 Stat. 

7 1447 (1997) and section 181 of Public Law 109–115, 119 

8 Stat. 2430 (2005) is further amended by striking ‘‘carrier, 

9 if (1)’’ and all that follows and inserting the following: 

10 ‘‘carrier. Air carriers and, with regard to foreign air trans11 portation, foreign air carriers, may offer for sale and pro12 vide through service and ticketing to or from Love Field, 

13 Texas, and any U.S. or foreign destination through any 

14 point within Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Kansas, Ar15 kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, and Alabama.’’. 

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

17 Transportation Competition Act of 1979 (Public Law 96– 

18 192; 94 Stat. 48 et seq.), as previously amended by section 

19 337 of Public Law 105–66, 111 Stat. 1447 (1997) and 

20 section 181 of Public Law 109–115, 119 Stat. 2430 

21 (2005), and as further amended by subsection (a), is re22 pealed on the date that is eight (8) years after the date 

23 of enactment of this Act. 


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1 SEC. 2. TREATMENT OF INTERNATIONAL NON-STOP 

2 FLIGHTS TO AND FROM LOVE FIELD, TEXAS. 

3 No person shall provide, or offer to provide, air trans4 portation of passengers for compensation or hire between 

5 Love Field, Texas, and any point or points outside the 

6 fifty (50) United States or the District of Columbia on 

7 a non-stop basis, and no official or employee of the Fed8 eral Government may take any action to make or des9 ignate Love Field, Texas, an initial point of entry into the 

10 United States or a last point of departure from the United 

11 States. 

12 SEC. 3. CHARTER FLIGHTS AT LOVE FIELD, TEXAS. 

13 (a) IN GENERAL.—Charter flights (as defined in 14 

14 C.F.R. 212.2) at Love Field, Texas, shall be limited to 

15 destinations within the fifty (50) United States and the 

16 District of Columbia and shall be limited to no more than 

17 ten per month per air carrier for charter flights beyond 

18 the States of Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Kansas, Ar19 kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, and Alabama. 

20 (b) CARRIERS WHO LEASE GATES.—Except for any 

21 flights operated by any agency of the U.S. Government 

22 or by any airline under contract to any agency of the U.S. 

23 Government, all flights operated by air carriers that lease 

24 terminal gate space at Love Field, Texas, shall depart 

25 from and arrive at one of those leased gates. 


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1 (c) CARRIERS WHO DO NOT LEASE GATES.—Char2 ter flights operated by air carriers that do not lease ter3 minal space at Love Field, Texas, may operate from non4 terminal facilities or one of the terminal gates. 

5 SEC. 4. AGREEMENT OF THE PARTIES. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in subsection 

7 (b), any actions taken by the City of Dallas, the City of 

8 Fort Worth, Southwest Airlines, American Airlines, and/ 

9 or the Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport Board (re10 ferred to in this section as the ‘‘parties’’) that are reason11 ably necessary to implement the provisions of the agree12 ment dated July 11, 2006, and titled CONTRACT 

13 AMONG THE CITY OF DALLAS, THE CITY OF 

14 FORT WORTH, SOUTHWEST AIRLINES CO., 

15 AMERICAN AIRLINES, INC., AND DFW INTER16 NATIONAL AIRPORT BOARD INCORPORATING 

17 THE SUBSTANCE OF THE TERMS OF THE JUNE 

18 15, 2006 JOINT STATEMENT BETWEEN THE PAR19 TIES TO RESOLVE THE ‘‘WRIGHT AMENDMENT’’ 

20 ISSUES, shall be deemed to comply in all respects with 

21 the parties’ obligations under all Federal laws, rules, or22 ders, agreements, and other requirements. 

23 (b) SAFETY.—Nothing in subsection (a) shall be con24 strued to limit the jurisdiction of the Department of 


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1 Transportation and the Federal Aviation Administration 

2 over aviation safety at Love Field, Texas. 

3 (c) LOVE FIELD GATES.—The number of gates avail4 able for passenger air service at Love Field, Texas, shall 

5 be reduced, as soon as practicable, to no more than twenty 

6 (20) gates, and thereafter shall not exceed a maximum 

7 of twenty (20) gates. 

8 (d) GENERAL AVIATION.—Nothing in the agreement 

9 described in subsection (a) shall affect general aviation 

10 service at Love Field, Texas, including, but not limited 

11 to, flights to or from Love Field by general aviation air12 craft for air taxi service, private or sport flying, aerial pho13 tography, crop dusting, corporate aviation, medical evacu14 ation, flight training, police or fire fighting, and similar 

15 general aviation purposes, or by aircraft operated by any 

16 agency of the U.S. Government or by any airline under 

17 contract to any agency of the U.S. Government. 

18 (e) ENFORCEMENT.—Notwithstanding any other pro19 vision of law, the Secretary of Transportation and the Ad20 ministrator of the Federal Aviation Administration are 

21 prohibited from making findings or determinations, pro22 mulgating orders or rules, withholding airport improve23 ment grants or approvals thereof, denying passenger facil24 ity charge applications, or taking any other action either 

25 self-initiated or on behalf of third parties, that is inconVerDate Aug 31 2005 23:56 Aug 01, 2006 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S3661.RS S3661

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1 sistent with the provisions of the agreement described in 

2 subsection (a), or that challenge the legality of any of its 

3 provisions. 

4 SEC. 5. JURISDICTION AND VENUE. 

5 Any action giving rise to a claim under this Act shall 

6 be instituted in the District Court of the United States 

7 for the Northern District of Texas. 

8 SEC. 6. APPLICABILITY. 

9 (a) IN GENERAL.—The provisions of this Act shall 

10 apply only to actions taken at Love Field, Texas, or air 

11 transportation to or from Love Field, Texas, under the 

12 agreement described in section 4(a) of this Act and shall 

13 have no application to any other airport. 

14 (b) SAFETY REVIEW.—The provisions of this Act 

15 shall not take effect if, within thirty (30) days after the 

16 date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator of the 

17 Federal Aviation Administration determines and notifies 

18 Congress that aviation operations in the airspace serving 

19 Love Field, Texas, and the Dallas-Fort Worth area that 

20 will be facilitated by the agreement described in section 

21 4(a) and by this Act, cannot be accommodated in compli22 ance with FAA safety standards in accordance with 49 

23 U.S.C. 40101. 

24 SECTION 1. FINDINGS. 

25 The Congress finds the following: 


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1 (1) The Dallas-Fort Worth region is served by 

2 two large airports, Dallas-Fort Worth International 

3 Airport and Love Field. American Airlines and 

4 Southwest Airlines each have their headquarters, re5 spectively, at these two airports. 

6 (2) Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport 

7 ranks fourth nationally and had more than 28 mil8 lion enplanements in 2005. Love Field ranks fifty9 sixth and had nearly 3 million enplanements in 2005. 

10 (3) The history of the development and creation 

11 of the Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport and 

12 the subsequent use of Love Field has been one of con13 tinuous disagreement, frequent litigation, and con14 stant uncertainty within the local communities. As a 

15 result of these factors, this has been the only time that 

16 Congress has intervened, with the consent of the local 

17 communities, to promulgate specific rules relating to 

18 the scope of a locally owned airport. Having done so, 

19 the dispute cannot end without a change in federal 

20 statutes. Therefore, Congress recognizes the completely 

21 unique historical circumstances involving these two 

22 airport and cities and the previous unprecedented his23 tory of legislation. This legislation is based on the 

24 compelling consensus of the civic parties to resolve the 


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1 dispute on a permanent basis, assure the end of liti2 gation, and establish long-term stability. 

3 (4) In 1979, Congress intervened and passed leg4 islation known as the Wright Amendment which im5 posed restrictions at Love Field limiting service from 

6 the airport to points within the State of Texas and 

7 States contiguous to Texas. Congress has since al8 lowed service to the additional States of Alabama, 

9 Kansas, Mississippi, and Missouri. At the urging of 

10 Congressional leaders, local community leaders have 

11 reached consensus on a proposal for eliminating the 

12 restrictions at Love Field in a manner deemed equi13 table by the involved parties. That consensus is re14 flected in an agreement dated July 11, 2006. 

15 (5) The agreement dated July 11, 2006, does not 

16 limit an air carrier’s access to the Dallas Fort Worth 

17 metropolitan area, and in fact may increase access 

18 opportunities to other carriers and communities. It is 

19 not Congressional intent to limit any air carrier’s ac20 cess to either airport. 

21 (6) At the urging of the Civil Aeronautics Board 

22 (CAB), the communities originally intended to create 

23 one large international airport, and close Love Field 

24 to commercial air transportation. Funding for the 

25 new airport was, in part, predicated on the closing 


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1 of Love Field to commercial service, and was agreed 

2 to by the carriers then serving Love Field. Southwest 

3 Airlines, created after the local decision was made, 

4 asserted its rights and as a result a new international 

5 airport was built, and Love Field remained open. 

6 (7) Congress also recognizes that the agreement, 

7 dated July 11, 2006, does not harm any city that is 

8 currently being served by these airports, and thus the 

9 agreement does not adversely affect the airline indus10 try or other communities that are currently receiving 

11 service, or hope to receive service in the future. 

12 (8) Congress finds that the agreement, dated 

13 July 11, 2006, furthers the public interest as con14 sumers in, and accessing, the Dallas and Fort Worth 

15 areas should benefit from increased competition. 

16 (9) Congress also recognizes that each of the par17 ties was forced to make concessions to reach an agree18 ment. The two carriers, Southwest Airlines and 

19 American Airlines, did so independently, determining 

20 what is in each of their interests separately. The nego21 tiations between the two communities forced each car22 rier to respond, individually, to a host of options, 

23 which ultimately were included, as part of the agree24 ment dated July 11, 2006. 


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1 (10) Nothing in the agreement dated July 11, 

2 2006, is intended to eliminate the jurisdiction of the 

3 U.S. Department of Transportation, the Federal 

4 Aviation Administration and the Transportation Se5 curity Administration with respect to the aviation 

6 safety and security responsibilities of those agencies. 

7 SEC. 2. MODIFICATION OF PROVISIONS REGARDING 

8 FLIGHTS TO AND FROM LOVE FIELD, TEXAS. 

9 (a) EXPANDED SERVICE.—Section 29(c) of the Inter10 national Air Transportation Competition Act of 1979 is 

11 amended by striking ‘‘carrier, if (1)’’ and all that follows 

12 and inserting ‘‘carrier. Air carriers and, with regard to for13 eign air transportation, foreign air carriers, may offer for 

14 sale and provide through service and ticketing to or from 

15 Love Field, Texas, and any domestic or foreign destination 

16 through any point within Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, 

17 Kansas, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, or 

18 Alabama.’’. 

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

20 Transportation Competition Act of 1979 (Public Law 96– 

21 192; 94 Stat. 48 et seq.) is repealed on the date that is 8 

22 years after the date of enactment of this Act. 


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1 SEC. 3. TREATMENT OF INTERNATIONAL NON-STOP 

2 FLIGHTS TO AND FROM LOVE FIELD, TEXAS. 

3 No person may provide, or offer to provide, air trans4 portation of passengers for compensation or hire between 

5 Love Field, Texas, and any point or points outside the 50 

6 States or the District of Columbia on a non-stop basis, and 

7 no officer or employee of the United States Government may 

8 take any action to make or designate Love Field, Texas, 

9 an initial point of entry into the United States or a last 

10 point of departure from the United States. 

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

12 (a) IN GENERAL.—Charter flights (as defined in sec13 tion 212.1 of title 14, Code of Federal Regulations) at Love 

14 Field, Texas, shall be limited to destinations within the 50 

15 States and the District of Columbia and shall be limited 

16 to no more than 10 per month per air carrier for charter 

17 flights beyond Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Kansas, Ar18 kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, or Alabama. 

19 (b) CARRIERS THAT LEASE GATES.—Except for a 

20 flight operated by a Federal agency or by an air carrier 

21 under contract to a Federal agency or in extraordinary cir22 cumstances or irregular operations, all flights operated by 

23 air carriers that lease terminal gate space at Love Field, 

24 Texas, shall depart from and arrive at one of those leased 

25 gates. 


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1 (c) CARRIERS THAT DO NOT LEASE GATES.—A char2 ter flight operated by an air carrier that does not lease ter3 minal space at Love Field, Texas, may operate from non4 terminal facilities or one of the terminal gates. 

5 SEC. 5. AGREEMENT OF THE PARTIES. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in subsection 

7 (b), any action taken by the City of Dallas, the City of Fort 

8 Worth, Southwest Airlines, American Airlines, or the Dal9 las-Fort Worth International Airport Board (referred to in 

10 this section as the ‘‘parties’’) that is reasonably necessary 

11 to implement the provisions of the agreement dated July 

12 11, 2006, and titled ‘‘Contract among the City of Dallas, 

13 the City of Fort Worth, Southwest Airlines Co., American 

14 Airlines, Inc., and DFW International Airport Board In15 corporating the Substance of the Terms of the June 15, 2006 

16 Joint Statement Between the Parties To Resolve the ‘Wright 

17 Amendment’ Issues’’, and such agreement, shall be deemed 

18 to comply in all respects with the parties’ obligations under 

19 title 49, United States Code, and any other competition 

20 laws. 

21 (b) LIMITATIONS ON STATUTORY CONSTRUCTION.— 

22 Nothing in this section shall be construed— 

23 (1) to limit the obligations of the parties under 

24 the existing programs of the United States Depart25 ment of Transportation and the Federal Aviation AdVerDate Aug 31 2005 23:56 Aug 01, 2006 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\S3661.RS S3661

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1 ministration relating to aviation safety, labor, envi2 ronmental, national historic preservation, civil rights, 

3 small business concerns (including disadvantaged 

4 business enterprise), veteran’s preference, and dis5 ability access; 

6 (2) to limit the obligations of the parties under 

7 the existing aviation security programs of the Depart8 ment of Homeland Security and the Transportation 

9 Security Administration at Love Field, Texas; or 

10 (3) to authorize the parties to offer marketing in11 centives that are in violation of Federal law, rules, 

12 orders, agreements, and other requirements. 

13 (c) LOVE FIELD GATES.—The number of gates avail14 able for passenger air service at Love Field, Texas, shall 

15 be reduced, as soon as practicable, to no more than 20 gates, 

16 and thereafter shall not exceed a maximum of 20 gates. 

17 (d) GENERAL AVIATION.—Nothing in the agreement 

18 described in subsection (a) shall affect general aviation serv19 ice at Love Field, Texas, including flights to or from Love 

20 Field by general aviation aircraft for air taxi service, pri21 vate or sport flying, aerial photography, crop dusting, cor22 porate aviation, medical evacuation, flight training, police 

23 or fire fighting, and similar general aviation purposes, or 

24 by aircraft operated by any Federal agency or by any air25 line under contract to any Federal agency. 


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1 (e) ENFORCEMENT.—Notwithstanding any other pro2 vision of law, the Secretary of Transportation and the Ad3 ministrator of the Federal Aviation Administration are 

4 prohibited from making findings or determinations, pro5 mulgating orders or rules, withholding airport improve6 ment grants or approvals thereof, denying passenger facility 

7 charge applications, or taking any other action either self8 initiated or on behalf of third parties, that is inconsistent 

9 with the provisions of the agreement described in subsection 

10 (a), or that challenge the legality of any of its provisions. 

11 SEC. 6. JURISDICTION. 

12 The Department of Transportation shall have exclusive 

13 jurisdiction with respect to the agreement described in sec14 tion 5(a) of this Act. 

15 SEC. 7. APPLICABILITY. 

16 (a) IN GENERAL.—The provisions of this Act shall 

17 apply only to actions taken with respect to Love Field, 

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

19 under the agreement described in section 5(a) of this Act 

20 and shall have no application to any other airport. 

21 (b) SAFETY REVIEW.—The provisions of this Act shall 

22 not take effect if, within 30 days after the date of enactment 

23 of this Act, the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Ad24 ministration determines and notifies Congress that aviation 

25 operations in the airspace serving Love Field, Texas, and 


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1 the Dallas-Fort Worth area that will be facilitated by the 

2 agreement described in section 5(a) and by this Act, cannot 

3 be accommodated in compliance with FAA safety standards 

4 in accordance with section 40101 of title 49, United States 

5 Code. 


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Calendar No. 563 

109TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3661 

[Report No. 109

–317] 

A BILL 

To amend section 29 of the International Air 

Texas. to air transportation to and from Love Field, Transportation Competition Act of 1979 relating 

AUGUST 1, 2006 

Reported with an amendment 


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