Wright Amendment Reform Act of 2006
Key claim: Congress lifted most Wright Amendment limits on flights from Dallas Love Field, allowing through-ticketing via nearby states immediately, ending remaining restrictions after eight years, capping gates, and barring international nonstop service.
Abstract
(S3661 · 109th Congress) (This measure has not been amended since it was passed by the Senate on September 29, 2006. The summary of that version is repeated here.) Wright Amendment Reform Act of 2006 - Amends the International Air Transportation Competition Act of 1979, with respect to provisions concerning air transportation to or from Love Field, Texas (the Wright Amendment), to authorize domestic air carriers and foreign air carriers (with respect to foreign air transportation) to offer for sale and provide through service and ticketing air transportation to or from Love Field, Texas, and any U.S. or foreign destination through any point within Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Kansas, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, and Alabama (effectively expanding domestic and foreign air service to and from Love Field, Texas). Terminates the Wright Amendment eight years after enactment of this Act. Prohibits: (1) a person from providing nonstop air passenger service between Love Field, Texas, and any point or points outside the 50 states or the District of Columbia; and (2) a federal official or employee from designating Love Field, Texas, as an initial point of entry into the United States or a last point of departure from the United States. Limits charter flights at Love Field, Texas, 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. Requires air carriers, with specified exceptions, who lease gate space for flights to and from Love Field, Texas, to depart from and arrive at such gates. Authorizes operators of charter flights from Love Field, Texas, who do not lease gate space to depart from nonterminal facilities or one of the terminal gates at Love Field, Texas. Requires the city of Dallas, Texas, to reduce the number of gates available for air service at Love Field, Texas, to no more t Latest action (2006-10-13): Became Public Law No: 109-352.
Why this matters
The Wright Amendment Reform Act is a rare congressional intervention in a single airport’s route economics, negotiated among Dallas, Fort Worth, DFW, American, and Southwest. It shows how federal law can preserve a hub-airport compromise (the gate cap and international nonstop ban) while phasing out geographic flight restrictions, a template occasionally invoked in later airport access disputes.