Fans of Dallas Mavericks and Miami Heat probably flew American Airlines back and forth for the NBA finals. American has hubs in both cities. But even if they wanted to they could not book Southwest flights into Fort Lauderdale, a major SW city. The Wright amendment prevents SW from flying long-haul from its main airport Dallas Love Field, and the only way fans could have done it is by buying 2 separate tickets like Dallas-New Orleans, New Orleans-Fort Lauderdale (or via Houston). Does that make SW uncompetitive? You bet.
But the restriction has been in place 26 years. A settlement is finally being worked out. But wait a minute, the long-haul restriction will not be lifted for 8 years! Why did SW accept it? Because they figure having waited 26 years, what's another 8?
But I think Congress can do something about it. They can refuse to approve the settlement unless the long-haul embargo is reduced to say a year. Congress owes SW a big one. That poor airline spent its first 3 years fighting bigger competitors who did not want it started in the first place. Every year since it has delivered profits, been a model employer and delighted customers. And yet it has been punished by things like the Wright Amendment and continued government subsidies to its weaker competitors.
Why do I care about this? I went to school in Fort Worth and Jim Wright was our Congressman (and Speaker of the House). Initially I thought his Amendment was the right thing for that town. But as part of my MBA course work, I did a case study on SW and was impressed with their fire and customer focus even back when they only had a few planes. As I launched my entrepreneurial career I estimate they have saved my clients and my business over $ 100,000 over the last 6 years. And since they have given me a free companion pass the last few years, my daughter's trips to various chess tournaments have been free.
But the biggest reason is not about my finances. We are stupid to shackle our best. Shameful we let such restrictions continue in our free enterprise system. SW appears happy with the settlement. We need to sweeten it for them by removing the 8 year long-haul phase out. Time to do the Wright thing.
Update: See more discussion on topic at the Southwest Airlines blog
