The Wright Amendment
Anyone who loves Southwest airlines, it's important that you read this.
Anyone who loves American Airlines, shame on you, and you probably don't want to read this.
The Wright Amendment was passed in 1979 (came into affect in 1980). In a nutshell, it was passed by American Airlines to put Southwest Airlines out of business, and to run Love Field into the ground.
You see, up until about 4 years previous to the Wright Amendment's passage, the airline industry had been heavily federally regulated. Obviously, commercial giants like AA HATED the deregulation that was no longer protecting them. So when Southwest entered the airline industry with innovative leaders and a bold new business plan, AA was scared and bought off Congressional members in order to shut them down.
The Wright Amendment wasn't AA's only attempt to legally close down Southwest. At one point, they paid off the city to try to get them to shut down Love Field. Close it off completely. Fortunately, Love Field had been built with Federal funds. Southwest Airlines sued the city and won, as the city could not shut down a Federally funded airport without jumping through some impossible hurdles.
Fast forward to now, 2005. As we know now, AA had every right to be afraid of Southwest. In spite of being the little guy versus the corporate giant, in spite of all the ridiculous and un-free market legislation passed against Southwest, they have grown and prospered. THEY are now the kings of the airline industry, and AA is facing bankruptcy, and no, it's not 9/11's fault. So now, now that they are in control, Southwest is attempting to rid themselves of the Wright Amendment. In a capitalistic society, Southwest has the nerve to ask for a free enterprise market. Shame on them.
What, exactly, is the Wright Amendment? I haven't answered that yet. Basically, what it says that any flight flying out of Love Field must stop in an adjoining state. Not only that, but you can't even BOOK a flight to a state not touching the great state of Texas.
For example: Southwest flies to Las Vegas or Kansas City. However, if you're departing from Dallas, you can't fly there. Go to their web site right now, select Dallas. Do you see either of those cities there? No, you don't. Now select Oklahoma City. Look at how many more cities are there!!! That's right. Including Las Vegas and KC.
That's it. In order to fly from Dallas to Vegas, you would have to book a flight to OKC, or Albuquerque, or New Orleans. Then you would have to book an ENTIRELY SEPARATE FLIGHT to Las Vegas.
Same thing coming back. From Vegas, you'd have to fly to OKC (or another city), and then fly into Texas. Again, you'd have to book two entirely separate flights.
Explain to me the logic behind this. Trust me: there is none. If you are a supporter of the Wright Amendment, I DARE you to post in the comments why this law should be in effect. I'll rip your argument to shreds, I promise you.
We, the consumers, will benefit from this so much it's not even funny. Now we'll have so many more cities we can book direct flights too, so it will be more convenient. Because we can book direct flights to those cities, we'll save money on airport and southwest fees, making our flights cheaper. There is NO WAY we don't benefit from this. It's greatness.
So, if you hate the Wright Amendment, and want to see it revoked, click here to join a mailing list to have it removed. I am on this list.
In case any of you read the article in the Fort Worth Star Telegram supporting the Wright Amendment, Kyle got so fired up he wrote the author an email response. He published that response here, on his blog. Of course, it being Kyle, he has included more facts than I've included here, so if you want more technical details, go there. It's very well written and pretty brief.
Yay to Southwest! Yay to capitalism! Yay to free enterprise! Down with the Wright Amendment!
Peace.
Anyone who loves American Airlines, shame on you, and you probably don't want to read this.
The Wright Amendment was passed in 1979 (came into affect in 1980). In a nutshell, it was passed by American Airlines to put Southwest Airlines out of business, and to run Love Field into the ground.
You see, up until about 4 years previous to the Wright Amendment's passage, the airline industry had been heavily federally regulated. Obviously, commercial giants like AA HATED the deregulation that was no longer protecting them. So when Southwest entered the airline industry with innovative leaders and a bold new business plan, AA was scared and bought off Congressional members in order to shut them down.
The Wright Amendment wasn't AA's only attempt to legally close down Southwest. At one point, they paid off the city to try to get them to shut down Love Field. Close it off completely. Fortunately, Love Field had been built with Federal funds. Southwest Airlines sued the city and won, as the city could not shut down a Federally funded airport without jumping through some impossible hurdles.
Fast forward to now, 2005. As we know now, AA had every right to be afraid of Southwest. In spite of being the little guy versus the corporate giant, in spite of all the ridiculous and un-free market legislation passed against Southwest, they have grown and prospered. THEY are now the kings of the airline industry, and AA is facing bankruptcy, and no, it's not 9/11's fault. So now, now that they are in control, Southwest is attempting to rid themselves of the Wright Amendment. In a capitalistic society, Southwest has the nerve to ask for a free enterprise market. Shame on them.
What, exactly, is the Wright Amendment? I haven't answered that yet. Basically, what it says that any flight flying out of Love Field must stop in an adjoining state. Not only that, but you can't even BOOK a flight to a state not touching the great state of Texas.
For example: Southwest flies to Las Vegas or Kansas City. However, if you're departing from Dallas, you can't fly there. Go to their web site right now, select Dallas. Do you see either of those cities there? No, you don't. Now select Oklahoma City. Look at how many more cities are there!!! That's right. Including Las Vegas and KC.
That's it. In order to fly from Dallas to Vegas, you would have to book a flight to OKC, or Albuquerque, or New Orleans. Then you would have to book an ENTIRELY SEPARATE FLIGHT to Las Vegas.
Same thing coming back. From Vegas, you'd have to fly to OKC (or another city), and then fly into Texas. Again, you'd have to book two entirely separate flights.
Explain to me the logic behind this. Trust me: there is none. If you are a supporter of the Wright Amendment, I DARE you to post in the comments why this law should be in effect. I'll rip your argument to shreds, I promise you.
We, the consumers, will benefit from this so much it's not even funny. Now we'll have so many more cities we can book direct flights too, so it will be more convenient. Because we can book direct flights to those cities, we'll save money on airport and southwest fees, making our flights cheaper. There is NO WAY we don't benefit from this. It's greatness.
So, if you hate the Wright Amendment, and want to see it revoked, click here to join a mailing list to have it removed. I am on this list.
In case any of you read the article in the Fort Worth Star Telegram supporting the Wright Amendment, Kyle got so fired up he wrote the author an email response. He published that response here, on his blog. Of course, it being Kyle, he has included more facts than I've included here, so if you want more technical details, go there. It's very well written and pretty brief.
Yay to Southwest! Yay to capitalism! Yay to free enterprise! Down with the Wright Amendment!
Peace.
posted by Michael Pondrom at 11:47 PM
4 Comments:
You rock, PJ. The free market really can work if you let it work freely...
Thanks for the Compliment, my fellow bloggers, especially the one up in good old KS.
Michael
And Nick, without question, wins the quote of the month award until October.
Michael
I am here to provide you with a reason why the Wright Amendment should not be repealed:
I am the preseident of American Airlines and I need to resurfance the tennis courts at all 4 of my homes.
Just kidding. Nice post. I totally agree; down with Wright!
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