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At a time when skyrocketing fuel prices are sending airfares soaring, Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-Queens) says metropolitan area airline customers could use some Love.
Meeks is calling on bargain carrier Southwest Airlines to consider serving New York City - specifically Kennedy Airport, which is situated in his congressional district.
Meeks has asked the head of Southwest Airlines to consider relocating the carrier's headquarters at Love Field in Dallas to Dallas/Fort Worth Airport (DFW), a move he says would save New York air travelers millions of dollars annually.
In 1979, federal legislation restricted Southwest, a low-budget airline, to operations at Love Field, a short-haul airport serving a handful of regional states.
Meeks wants the law repealed so that Southwest can fly into and out of long-haul airports such as DFW and Kennedy. Currently, the only New York-area airport Southwest serves is MacArthur on Long Island.
"The best option for New Yorkers and the U.S. taxpayer is for Southwest Airlines to move into the abundant gate capacity at DFW and fly anywhere it chooses tomorrow," said Meeks, who has asked Southwest CEO Gary Kelly to meet with him to discuss the issue.
"Love Airport is an old, outdated antiquated airport. It doesn't serve the national interest to have Love Field open and just 8 miles apart from DFW," said Meeks, whose recommendation is based on a report by the Business Travel Coalition, a group that seeks to lower costs for business travelers.
Southwest spokeswoman Edna Ruano said the airline has no interest in moving, and that DFW was not designed with the carrier's business model in mind.
"Overall, our response in general about moving to DFW is that we don't feel it's wise to abandon Love Field. This is the airport where everything started for Southwest," said Ruano. "The way Love Field is structured for us allows us to continue to provide those low fares that we are known for."
But Meeks countered that in recent years, Southwest has begun serving such large "hub" airports as those in Baltimore/Washington, Denver, Philadelphia and Los Angeles, and he sees no differences in those destinations and Kennedy.
Southwest traditionally operates at small airports, but if the federal legislation was repealed, the carrier could expand its service to airports like DFW - a move, says American Airlines, that could cause American to cut its New York-to-Dallas flights.
"There's a chance those flights from New York will cease to be profitable," said Tim Wagner, an American Airlines spokesman. "Essentially what it would do is force us to move some of our [New York] flights away from DFW airport.
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