Delta Seeks Service Expansion from Dallas Love Field

Delta Air Lines has applied to add 18 daily non-stop flights to five destinations from Dallas Love Field in October 2014, boosting competition in the market and offering North Texas travelers new travel options.

The Dallas Love Field Airport expansion contemplated by Delta requires that full repeal of the Wright Amendment ‒ a piece of 1979 legislation which restricts non-stop service from Love Field to Texas, adjacent states and Missouri, Alabama, Kansas and Mississippi ‒ goes ahead as agreed by both Houses of Congress on September 29, 2006.

Those restrictions are scheduled to end on October 16, 2014.

In its merger with Northwest Airlines, Delta Air Lines inherited large fleets of several types of aircraft. Among them were 69 Airbus A320s and 57 A319s

Its planned additional services from Dallas Love Field (IATA code DAL) would also require Delta Air Lines to have increased access to gates at the airport. Delta has asked the U.S. Department of Justice to allow it to bid on Love Field gates as part of the divestiture of airport assets under a proposed settlement agreement with American Airlines and US Airways.

Delta’s planned Love Field expansion would offer new non-stop service to New York LaGuardia, Los Angeles, Detroit and Minneapolis-St. Paul. Delta also plans to add two daily flights to its existing Dallas Love Field-Atlanta service.

Currently at Love Field, 16 of the 20 gates and more than 95 per cent of available seats are controlled by one airline, Southwest Airlines, which transports more passengers in the U.S. than any other carrier.

Delta Air Lines’ hub at Hartfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport is the biggest of any U.S. airline’s in terms of the numbers of daily departures and arrivals it involves

Love Field has one of the highest concentrations of operations controlled by a single airline among the nation’s large airports, according to Delta.

“Our new service at Dallas Love Field means more competition and options for North Texas travelers, and flights to our international hubs will provide convenient connections to international destinations in Asia, Europe, Latin America and Africa,” says Bob Cortelyou, Delta’s senior vice president – network planning.

“Dallas/Fort Worth is a top business market and critical to our strategy of connecting the world’s leading cities for business and commerce,” adds Cortelyou.

Its plans for expanded Love Field service would build on Delta’s recent growth at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport (DFW), where it currently operates 45 peak-day flights to eight destinations.

Along with Boeing’s aircraft-leasing unit Boeing Capital Corp, Delta Air Lines, Southwest Airlines and Southwest subsidiary AirTran Airways reached agreement for Delta to lease or sub-lease all 88 Boeing 717s operated by AirTran Airways. Delta is using the 717s primarily to replace 50-seat regional jets in its fleet, on a capacity-neutral basis

Last year, Delta added new non-stop service between DFW and New York LaGuardia. It also operates nonstop flights from DFW to Atlanta, Minneapolis-St. Paul, Detroit, Salt Lake City, Cincinnati, Memphis and New York JFK.

Should Delta be able to complete its planned expansion at Dallas Love Field, Delta would operate a total of 68 daily flights from the Dallas/Fort Worth region, including flights at both DFW and Love Field.

Delta employs nearly 1,000 people in the Dallas/Fort Worth region in areas including reservations, customer care, airport operations and customer service.