The Wright amendment finally enters the history books today, ending a fight for consumer choice that began in earnest a decade ago. This means North Texans will now be free to fly where they want to, when they want to, on what airline they want to — and at more affordable prices.
With the exception of Reagan National Airport in Washington, D.C. — which sits on federal land — Congress has once, and only once, placed distance limitations on an airport. That was in 1979, when House Majority Leader Jim Wright, D-Fort Worth, came up with a way to protect a fledgling Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport from competition at Love Field.
While severely restricting Love Field via the Wright amendment might have been good for D/FW Airport, it wasn’t good for consumers. According to Department of Transportation data from 2005, North Texas residents were paying approximately 30 percent more than the national average for comparable long-haul flights out of D/FW Airport.
Not only did the Wright amendment hurt consumers, it also hurt our free enterprise system. The entire premise of the Wright amendment was that Congress would use the power of the federal government to pick winners and losers in the marketplace. This is not — and should not be — the role of Congress or the federal government.
That is why we introduced the Right to Fly Act in May 2005. Our bill — which would have immediately and fully repealed the Wright amendment — touched off the fight to “Set Love Free” in Washington.
While the end of the Wright amendment is something widely celebrated today, the fight to repeal it was anything but at the time. Almost immediately, our effort came under fire from those who wanted to see the the restrictions last into perpetuity. Yet, against considerable odds, our effort gained momentum and eventually resulted in the compromise legislation that President George W. Bush signed into law. While this compromise fell short of the full and immediate repeal we had set out to achieve, it nonetheless paved the way for a more competitive marketplace by allowing through-ticketing and specifying a date for repeal of the Wright amendment.
Our efforts were not about favoring Love Field over D/FW Airport or Southwest Airlines over American Airlines. It was about giving consumers choice through competition when it came to long-haul commercial air service in North Texas.
The repeal serves as a testament to what we can accomplish with the American principles of hard work, determination and commitment to freedom.
At a time when government tries to regulate virtually every aspect of Americans’ lives — from what kind of light bulbs you can purchase to the kind of health care you can have to the kind of loans you can get — today’s official expiration is a victory for consumers and the free enterprise system that should be celebrated and re-created throughout the American economy.
Reach U.S. Rep. Jeb Hensarling through hensarling.house.gov and U.S. Rep. Sam Johnson through samjohnson.house.gov.
