Dallas loves Love: What’s next for our city’s airport

While Legend Airlines did not make the progress they had wished regarding the service to Dallas’ business traveler market, their story started a conversation. Signs stating “Wright is wrong” were hung throughout the airport by Southwest Airlines. The Wright Amendment had been created in the 1970s to protect the financially vulnerable Dallas-Fort Worth Regional Airport (now known as Dallas Fort Worth International Airport) and the carriers that moved there. In November 2004, DFW was booming, and American Airlines had not declared bankruptcy, something many of its legacy carrier competitors had faced. Southwest believed the Wright Amendment was obsolete. First, an exemption was made in 2005 to allow flights to Missouri (Kansas City and St. Louis) by Sen. Kit Bond. Southwest and American both began service to those cities from Love Field. The work of Texas Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison at the federal level and Rep. Kay Granger at the state level led to the death of the Wright Amendment when President George W. Bush signed a law on Oct. 13, 2006. The service restrictions would remain until 2014, and Love Field’s gate capacity was set to 20.

Delta and Continental had both begun service to Love Field during this time period. Most of Braniff’s old “Terminal of the Future” and the former Texas International stinger concourse were demolished in the early 2000s. To follow the new law, Legend’s Lemmon Avenue Terminal was demolished, to the dismay of many in the community. The original central concourse had been closed for many years, but the building still stood. Southwest used the west concourse (originally American’s), and the other carriers used the original east concourse and a small section of The Terminal of the Future. These 1950s facilities were severely out of date, and Love Field’s future looked bright. A 2009 master plan costing $519 million would deliver a new 20-gate concourse that was built in stages with new ticketing and baggage claim areas, and a heavily renovated landside facility. This terminal has won many awards and consistently ranks high in customer satisfaction. American, though it had ended service to Love Field, still had the rights to two gates in the new terminal. As a result of the merger with US Airways, they were forced to give them up. These gates ended up in the hands of Virgin America, a flashy West Coast carrier with great aspirations in Dallas. Their service history from Love Field included New York, Washington D.C., Los Angeles, San Francisco, Las Vegas, Chicago (planned but never launched) and Austin. The airline was acquired by Alaska Airlines in April 2016, and Alaska scaled back Virgin’s service to just San Francisco and added Seattle (their primary hub). Alaska’s service to Love Field ended entirely in 2025. In the 2010s, DAL also saw service from two smaller carriers. SeaPort operated nine seat aircrafts to cities like El Dorado, Arkansas, and Hot Springs, Arkansas, until 2015, and Taos Air operated the elusive Dornier 328JET from Love to Taos, New Mexico, on and off between 2018 and 2022.

A new player in the U.S. Aviation industry began in 2016 with a flight from Burbank to Concord, California. JetSuiteX, later rebranded to JSX, prides itself on being different from the rest. Its mission was to provide a “Joyful, Simple, Xperience” to its customers by offering efficient service between convenient airports with its spacious 30-seat aircraft and award-winning hospitality. Additionally, passengers arrive at privately operated terminals just 20 minutes prior to departure and have their bags waiting for them outside the aircraft when they deplane. While JSX takes pride in its premium onboard service, they take most pride in the time savings they provide for its customers. An inner-city airport like Love Field was exactly the type of place JSX had in mind. While they were still exclusively a West Coast carrier, JSX moved its headquarters to Dallas in 2018 with the intent of building up a base in our city. In November 2020, JSX launched its first route out of Dallas, which was to Houston’s William P. Hobby Airport (HOU), with more destinations to follow. In just five short years, Dallas has become their fourth largest city (behind Las Vegas, Burbank and Scottsdale), with domestic flights from Dallas to Denver, Destin, Gunnison/Crested Butte, Hobbs (New Mexico), Houston Hobby, Lajitas (Texas), Las Vegas, Miami, Santa Fe, Scottsdale and Taos. It also operates the only international route from Love Field: Cabo San Lucas. In 2023, they opened their massive facility adjacent to the Frontiers of Flight Museum. It serves as their corporate headquarters, operation center, maintenance base and passenger terminal. The building was originally Delta Air Lines’ Dallas base that opened in the 1950s.

What’s next for Love Field? Both carriers based there seem to be excelling. JSX, for the second year in a row, was named The Best U.S. Carrier by Travel + Leisure primarily based on passenger surveys, and Southwest was ranked the Best U.S. Airline by The Wall Street Journal based on operational metrics. Both carriers take pride in calling Love Field their home. The general aviation market is also thriving. Fixed-base operators like Business Jet have continued expanding over recent years. But what about the airport itself? They didn’t stop once the new terminal opened in 2016. They have been improving taxiways, roadways and runways, and are currently constructing a new fire station with state-of-the-art technology. Since passenger traffic is rapidly rising, DAL has created a master plan called “Love What’s Next” and a capital program called LEAP (Love Field Expansion Program). A major theme of this series of articles has been Dallas’ aviation leaders looking toward the future and being forward-minded. This project is no exception. Even though the terminal is just 10 years old, many renovations and improvements are planned. Fourteen projects are set to take place to improve the passenger experience, including a wider concourse, a new parking garage, more space for security screening, and better curbside and passenger drop-off zones.

It is pretty clear that Dallas loves Love. In its over 100-year history, the city and the companies have been a part of DAL’s fabric. One frequent flyer sums it up perfectly. He says, “This is corny for me to even say, but I’m grateful you guys are my home airport as a very frequent flyer. I can’t really think of any other airport around the country that reaches the sum of form and function, certainly not of your volume.”

As someone who grew up about 10 minutes away from the airport and has always been interested in aviation, I have appreciated Love Field and the way it is an integral part of the city. Many key memories on my aviation journey have taken place at Love Field, including playing with my brother in the playscape at the Frontiers of Flight Museum, my mother taking me to Bachman Lake to watch planes, the excitement felt when I landed at DAL myself during my flight training, flying in the simulator at Southwest’s headquarters and spending two summers working for companies at the airport. Countless Dallasites also have their special moments at the airport, and some of the most notable aviation history in the world has taken place here. I am excited to watch Love Field continue to grow and see what its future holds.

This is the final part of a series on Love Field.