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Friday, August 29, 1997

Kelleher attended fund raiser of lawmaker eager to repeal Wright Amendment

By MICHELLE MITTELSTADT / Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Southwest Airlines remains "passionately neutral" regarding federal flight restrictions at its home base -- despite the fact that its chief attended a fund raiser for a senator determined to undo the Wright Amendment.

Southwest chief executive Herb Kelleher this week attended a Dallas fund raiser organized by Sen. Richard Shelby, who is chairman of the Senate transportation appropriations subcommittee.

Shelby issued a statement on the day of the fund raiser promising he'd work to repeal the Wright Amendment. The Alabama Republican termed the flight restrictions "obscure, oppressive and outdated."

Kelleher's attendance wasn't linked to Shelby's effort to eliminate the flight restrictions, Southwest spokeswoman Linda Rutherford said Thursday. "It was coincidental," she said. "We remain passionately neutral about the Wright Amendment."

A check of campaign finance records shows Kelleher has given more than $85,000 in contributions to congressional candidates and Democratic and Republican party committees since 1993, including $1,000 to Shelby last year.

The Wright Amendment, perennially under attack from out-of-state politicians, is likely to be altered at some future date, Sen. Phil Gramm, R-Texas, conceded this week. Gramm favors leaving the flight restrictions in place.

"The tempo of the attacks on the Wright Amendment are increasing," Gramm spokesman Larry Neal said Thursday. "That's just a fact of life."

The federal restrictions bar nonstop commercial flights from Love Field beyond Texas and its four adjoining states. Critics contend the measure inhibits competition and deprives travelers outside the five-state area from full access to Love Field, home to low-fare Southwest.

The 1979 law was crafted to protect the then-fledgling Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport from competition at the older Love Field, which is more convenient to downtown Dallas.

Noting that DFW has become one of the nation's busiest airports, Shelby and other amendment foes argue the need for the law has long passed. Travelers are penalized by higher fares into Dallas, they say.

Nearly 65 percent of 605 registered voters in Dallas and Tarrant counties believe the Wright Amendment should be repealed, according to a poll released Thursday by the Association for Sensible Aviation Policy, formerly The Friends of Love Field. The study's margin of error is less than 3.5 percentage points.

Most lawmakers representing the region contend the law is needed to keep harmony between the two airports and the cities of Dallas and Fort Worth. They also warn of safety and noise ramifications for Dallas neighborhoods if Love Field air traffic is increased.

The Fort Worth City Council this week unanimously approved a resolution condemning Shelby's efforts.

While promising to work to repeal the restrictions, Shelby also is sponsoring legislation that could result in new long-haul commercial flights into and out of Love Field. Both Gramm and Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, sought to discourage Shelby from offering that amendment.