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JetBlue Airways Corp. founder David Neeleman said Thursday that he has asked the Federal Aviation Administration to block the Wright amendment compromise or pull federal funding from Dallas Love Field.
JetBlue supported Southwest Airlines Co. efforts to repeal the Wright restrictions, Mr. Neeleman said. But the latest deal is unfair, he said.
"I don't think it's best for the traveling public going down to Dallas," said Mr. Neeleman, JetBlue's chief executive. "We'll make our position known. I can't imagine that any lawmaker would approve that."
JetBlue is one of a handful of carriers not currently serving Love Field that have objected to the local agreement. And Thursday, the New York-based discounter took its opposition to Capitol Hill.
"The deal ... merely seeks to replace one outdated regulation with a series of anticompetitive provisions that eliminate competition and protect a few select carriers, while permanently destroying one-third of all of the gates at a vital airport in a major city, one that JetBlue wishes to serve if the Wright amendment is repealed," Mr. Neeleman wrote to the bipartisan leadership of the House Transportation Committee.
"It creates nothing more than an anticompetitive and discriminatory arrangement that protects two carriers by permanently excluding all competitors, ultimately at the expense of the traveling public in North Texas and across the nation," he added.
Other airlines objecting to the plan include Northwest Airlines Inc., as well as four discounters represented by the Air Carrier Association.
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