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COPYRIGHT 2005 The Dallas Morning News
Byline: Robert Dodge
Jul. 24--WASHINGTON -- All politics are local, the late House Speaker Tip O'Neill famously observed.
He may have been thinking about airline service.
Even as the Wright amendment battle evolves from a regional squabble into a full-fledged congressional fight, the outcome may be determined by the backyard concerns of lawmakers from around the country.
Legislators from rural states fear losing service to their cities.
Others are worried about protecting jobs and lowering airfares in their communities. At least one wants an opportunity for payback.
Consider a proposal made last week that unites Sens. James Inhofe, a conservative Republican from Oklahoma, with Tom Harkin, a liberal Democrat from Iowa.
Their bill, which some experts say has little chance of passage, would close Dallas Love Field to commercial air traffic, potentially forcing Southwest Airlines Co. to move to Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport.
Southwest wants to lift Wright so it can fly nationwide from Love. It doesn't want to move to D/FW, which is dominated by American Airlines Inc.
D/FW and American oppose opening Love to long-haul flights.
Mr. Inhofe and Mr. Harkin joined together as friends of American less out of ideology than geography.
Both come from largely rural states that depend heavily on the hub-and-spoke networks of traditional airlines like American for service to their cities.
American provides frequent service to Oklahoma City and Tulsa from D/FW. Lifting the 25-year-old flight restrictions would give Southwest " a competitive advantage over American, and it could negatively affect the service we get in Oklahoma," Mr. Inhofe said.
Mr. Harkin is concerned that opening Love could cause American to deploy planes away from small airports like those serving Iowa.
American and its regional affiliate, American Eagle, provide service from D/FW, Chicago and St. Louis to Des Moines and Cedar Rapids, Iowa, as well as Moline across the state line in Illinois.
American jets from D/FW compete against Southwest planes from Love Field for passengers flying within Texas and to seven nearby states -- the region the city airport is allowed to serve.
But if the Wright restrictions were repealed, the world's largest carrier says it would be forced to move significant operations to Love.
American's chairman and chief executive, Gerard Arpey, said during a recent trip to Washington that the carrier would have to re-evaluate its route system, reducing or eliminating service to some smaller cities.
Some routes inevitably would be to rural states, he told reporters.
Mr. Inhofe has...
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