Hawaii to pick up Southwest flights originating in Dallas
By David Koenig
Associated Press
DALLAS » Moving quickly to take advantage of a new federal law, Southwest Airlines Co. says it will sell flights from its home airport near downtown Dallas to 28 new destinations, including two in Hawaii, at introductory fares starting at $99 each way.
The move is virtually certain to trigger a fierce fight between neighboring airlines -- Southwest, the most profitable U.S. carrier, and American Airlines, the nation's biggest.
American hinted it would slash prices on flights from nearby Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, although American is likely to charge more for its nonstop flights.
For 37 years, a federal law called the Wright Amendment limited flights at Southwest's home base of Dallas Love Field for travel to Texas and a few nearby states. Southwest served 18 cities in that region.
Last week, President Bush signed a bill that allows immediate one-stop flights and, by 2014, unrestricted nonstops.
Southwest Chief Executive Gary Kelly announced that beginning tomorrow, Southwest will for the first time sell tickets linking Dallas with Los Angeles, Chicago, Las Vegas and 22 other cities. It will also sell seats on partner ATA Airlines' flights to New York's LaGuardia Airport, Honolulu and Maui.
The flights must stop in Texas or a nearby state -- that was one vestige of the Wright Amendment that Congress wouldn't abolish until 2014. The Hawaii trips will take two stops.
American won't actually add flights; it will merely change the way they are sold and priced.
"The days of high fares for North Texas are about to be past," Kelly declared. "In most cases, full coach fares will fall hundreds of dollars each way."
The $99 tickets must be bought 14 days in advance and cover only a limited number of seats -- Kelly wouldn't say how many on each flight. The airline said competitors are charging between $116 to $219 for similar tickets.
Kelly suggested the expanded service from Dallas will generate enough new traffic to bring in $50 million in annual revenue. Southwest will have to control costs to do it profitably, he said.