Dallas Love Field

Love Field in 1918 during World War I

136th Aero Squadron (Later Squadron "C") Love Field Texas, 1918

Training flight of 4 Curtiss JN-4Ds from Love Field

Instructor pilot sitting in a Curtis JN-4

Dallas Love Field has its origins in 1917 when the Army announced it would establish a series of camps to train prospective pilots after the United States entered into World War I. The airfield was one of thirty-two new Air Service fields.[6] It was constructed just southeast of Bachman Lake, and it covered over 700 acres and could accommodate up to 1,000 personnel. Dozens of wooden buildings served as headquarters, maintenance, and officers’ quarters. Enlisted men had to bivouac in tents.[7]

Love Field served as a base for flight training for the United States Army Air Service. In 1917, flight training occurred in two phases: primary and advanced. Primary training took eight weeks and consisted of pilots learning basic flight skills under dual and solo instruction. After completion of their primary training at Love Field, flight cadets were transferred to another base for advanced training.[7]

After officially opening on 19 October 1917, the first unit stationed at Love Field was the 136th Aero Squadron, which was transferred from Kelly Field, south of San Antonio, Texas. Only a few U.S. Army Air Service aircraft arrived with the 136th Aero Squadron, and most of the Curtiss JN-4 Jennys to be used for flight training were shipped in wooden crates by railcar.[7] Training units assigned to Love Field during World War I were:[8]

• Post Headquarters, Love Field, October 1917 – December 1919
• 71st Aero Squadron (II), February 1918

Re-designated as Squadron "A", July–November 1918

• 121st Aero Squadron (II), April 1918

Re-designated as Squadron "B", July–November 1918

• 136th Aero Squadron (II), November 1917

Re-designated as Squadron "C", July–November 1918

• 197th Aero Squadron, November 1917

Re-designated as Squadron "D", July–November 1918

• Flying School Detachment (Consolidation of Squadrons A-D), November 1918 – November 1919

The 865th Aero Squadron (Repair), was formed at Love Field in March 1918 as a support unit for JN-4 aircraft repair and maintenance. It was assigned to the Aviation Repair Depot, Dallas Texas (at Love Field) in April 1918. It was demobilized in March 1919.

With the sudden end of World War I in November 1918, the future operational status of Love Field was unknown. Many local officials speculated the U.S. government would keep the field open because of the outstanding combat record established by Love-trained pilots in Europe. Locals also pointed to the optimal weather conditions in the Dallas area for flight training. Cadets in flight training on 11 November 1918, were allowed to complete their training; however, no new cadets were assigned to the base. Also the separate training squadrons were consolidated into a single Flying School detachment, as many of the personnel assigned were being demobilized.[7]

With the end of World War I, in December 1919 Love Field was deactivated as an active duty airfield and converted into a storage facility for surplus De Havilland and JN-4 aircraft, some of the latter having been brought bought back by the Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company in the spring of 1919.[9]^:12 In what was called "the largest recruiting mission in the spring and summer of 1919", Lt. Col. Henry B. Clagett began with seven DH-4s departing Dallas and flying as far as Boston.[9]^:8 A small caretaker unit was assigned to the facility for administrative reasons and it was used intermittently to support small military units.

In January 1921, 1st Lt William D. Coney attempted to fly from San Diego to Jacksonville with just one stop—at Love Field.[9]^:177 In 1921, the aviation repair depot next to Love Field moved to Kelly Field in San Antonio to consolidate with the supply depot at Kelly and form the San Antonio Intermediate Air Depot. In 1923, Dallas was a route point between Muskogee and Kelly Field on the southern division of the model airway.[9]^:152 However, by 1923, the decision had been made to phase down all activities at the new base in accordance with sharply reduced military budgets and it was closed. The War Department had ordered the small caretaker force at Love Field to dismantle all remaining structures and to sell them as surplus. The War Department leased out the vacant land to local farmers and ranchers.

In 1927, Dallas purchased Love Field, which opened for civilian use (1st passenger service was by the National Air Transport company.)[10] On April 9, 1932, the first paved runways at the airfield were completed,[11] and in March 1939 the airfield had 21 weekday airline departures: 9 American, 8 Braniff and 4 Delta.[12] "On 6 June 1939, the War Department approved...nine civil school detachments", including one at Dallas[13]^:18 (cf. a 1940 school approved for Ft Worth's Hicks Field,[13]^:26 a new 1942 Ft Worth airfield—Tarrant Field at the government plant and that had a 4 engine pilots' school,[13]^:69) and a Ferrying Command control center at Dallas's Hensley Field.[13]^:144)

By October 1940 at the Texas Army Airfields,[13]^:29 classes had entered the Dallas Texas Aviation School, which provided basic (level 1) flight training using Fairchild PT-19s as the primary trainer (several PT-17 Stearmans and a few P-40 Warhawks were also assigned.) The Gulf Coast ACTC school later moved to Brady, Texas;[13]^:32 and Love Field also had an Air Materiel Command modification center.[13]^:141 In September 1942, the Air Transport Command activity at Hensley Field moved to Love Field.[13]^:146 ATC's 5th Ferrying Group, consisting of Women's Auxiliary Ferrying Squadrons (WAFS) ferried PT-17s, AT-6s and twin-engine Cessna AT-17s; and Love Field was also used by the San Antonio Air Service Command for aircraft overhauls. The 2d Ferrying Squadron of the 5th Ferrying Group was moved by Air Transport Command from Love Field to Fairfax Field at Kansas City on April 15, 1943.[14]

In September 1943 a new north-south runway 18/36 and northwest-southeast runway 13/31 were completed. Air Force facilities closed at the end of World War II[15][16] except for Love Field's automatic tracking radar station (call sign Dallas Bomb Plot) for Radar Bomb Scoring that had been established by June 6, 1945[17] (transferred to Strategic Air Command on March 21, 1946, 10th RBSS Det 1 by 1957.)[18]

Postwar aerial view with Lemmon Ave. terminal and Runway 7/25 prior to closure, March 11, 1949

On 6 October 1940, Love Field's Lemmon Avenue Terminal Building opened on the east side of the airfield.

On 29 November 1949, American Airlines Flight 157, a Douglas DC-6 en route from New York City to Dallas and Mexico City with 46 passengers and crew, slid off Runway 36 after the flight crew lost control on final approach. The airliner struck buildings[N 1] and caught fire, killing 28. This was the deadliest air disaster in Texas history at the time[19] and, according to modern reference sources,[20] remains the deadliest crash at the airfield.

Pioneer Airlines moved its base from Houston to Love Field in 1950.[11]

In 1953, Fort Worth opened Amon Carter Field, which would later become Greater Southwest International Airport, to compete with Love Field. Fort Worth had attempted to negotiate with Dallas to collaborate on the new airport, but Dallas repeatedly declined those attempts. Upon completion, all of the passenger airlines were transferred from Fort Worth's previous airline airport, Meacham Field, to Greater Southwest, leaving Love Field and Greater Southwest as the only air transportation options for the Dallas-Fort Worth area.

The February 1953 C&GS diagram shows Runway 7 (4,301 ft (1,311 m)), Runway 13 (6,201 ft (1,890 m)) and Runway 18 (5,202 ft (1,586 m)). On 1 June 1954 Runway 7/25 was closed;[11] it was later removed to allow terminal expansion. Love Field then had two runways: Runway 13/31, the main runway, and the shorter 18/36.

The April 1957 Official Airline Guide shows 52 weekday departures on Braniff, 45 on American, 25 Delta, 21 Trans-Texas, 12 Central and 9 Continental.[21] Three nonstops a day to Washington DC, three to New York/Newark, six to Chicago, five to California and 12 a week to Mexico City.

United States President John F. Kennedy and Jacqueline Kennedy arrive at Love Field, November 22, 1963

Continental and Delta aircraft at Love Field in 1966, shortly before terminal modernization began

Love Field's new terminal (the third terminal, designed by Donald S. Nelson[22]) opened to the airlines on 20 January 1958,[11] with three one-story concourses, 26 ramp-level gates and the world's first airport moving walkways.[23] Airlines serving the airport at the time included American, Braniff, Central (which was based in Fort Worth), Continental, Delta, Pan Am and Trans Texas (later Texas International).

Turbine-power flights began on 1 April 1959, when Continental Airlines introduced the Vickers Viscount turboprop. Jet airline flights began on July 12, 1959, when American Airlines started Boeing 707 flights to New York.

In 1961, Mr. and Mrs. Earle Wyatt gave a large bronze statue titled One Riot, One Ranger for display in the airport's new terminal. Famed Texas-born sculptress Waldine Tauch created the piece. The inscription refers to an incident in which a single Texas Ranger was supposedly dispatched to quell a riot.[11] The statue was removed from the airport in June 2020 after it was revealed that the statue model had in fact been dispatched to the Dallas area in 1956 to help white supremacist protesters defy lawful efforts to end racial segregation of local public schools.[24][25]

On 22 November 1963, United States President John F. Kennedy arrived at Love Field on Air Force One, and was assassinated in Dealey Plaza less than one hour later while his motorcade was traveling from Love Field to the Dallas Trade Mart and died at Parkland Memorial Hospital. Texas Governor John Connally was riding in the presidential limousine and was seriously wounded. Ninety minutes later, Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson was sworn in as president aboard Air Force One before its departure from Love Field to Washington D.C.

On 2 April 1965, the 8,800 ft (2,700 m) parallel Runway 13R/31L opened (Runway 13/31 became Runway 13L/31R).[26] The project had been vexed by legal wrangling; safety concerns were raised regarding its proximity to schools[27] and its minimal safety areas,[28] while nearby residents attempted to stop the anticipated increase in jet noise and the removal of homes and businesses adjacent to the airport to accommodate the project.[29][30]

Several terminal expansion programs were fueled by the boom in air travel during the 1960s. American Airlines expanded their concourse in 1968 and Braniff opened its "Terminal of the Future." The expansion, showcasing Alexander Girard, Herman Miller and Ray and Charles Eames designs, featured the first rotunda concourse, jet bridges and several airport innovations. Braniff connected their new terminal to new remote parking lots with the Jetrail monorail system in 1970.[31] Texas International expanded their concourse in 1969, and Delta's concourse was expanded in 1970.[11] By 1972, American used 14 gates on the west end of the terminal, Delta used 13 gates, Braniff and Ozark together used 13 gates on the east end of the terminal, and Texas International used seven gates.[32]

In 1964, the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB), tired of funding competing commercial airports in Dallas and Fort Worth, gave the two cities a six-month period to plan a new regional airport. In 1968, they finalized an agreement to build Dallas/Fort Worth Regional Airport (now Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport or DFW), and to restrict air-carrier operations at their respective municipal airports to promote the new facility. All carriers then operating at Love Field—American, Braniff, Continental, Delta, Eastern, Frontier, Ozark, and Texas International—simultaneously agreed to shift all commercial flights to DFW when that airport opened.[33]

In 1971, Southwest Airlines—arguing that the CAB had no jurisdiction over purely intrastate flights—received an air operator's certificate from the State of Texas to operate from any airport in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, and began quick, no-frills flights between Love Field, Houston, and San Antonio. Southwest had not signed the 1968 regional airport agreement, and the airline's founders felt that Dallas residents would find the long drive to DFW Airport inconvenient and contrary to the notion of a quick trip. The cities of Dallas and Fort Worth and the Dallas-Fort Worth Regional Airport Board sued, arguing that the 1968 agreement gave them the authority to force Southwest to fly from DFW; however, the courts ruled in Southwest's favor, stating that the cities could not block the airline from using Love Field so long as it remained open as an airport.[33]

In 1972, Love Field saw an aircraft hijacking. On 12 January 1972, Billy Gene Hurst, Jr., a resident of Houston, hijacked Braniff Flight 38, a Boeing 727, as it departed William P. Hobby Airport in Houston bound for Dallas. After the plane landed at Love Field, Hurst allowed all 94 passengers to deplane, but continued to hold the 7 crewmembers hostage. Hurst insisted on flying to South America and made a variety of other demands, including food, cigarettes, parachutes, jungle survival gear, US$2,000,000 (equivalent to $12,224,344 in 2019), and a handgun. After a 6-hour standoff, police gave Hurst a package containing parachutes and some other items, and the hostages escaped while he was distracted examining the package's contents. Police stormed the craft soon afterwards and arrested him without serious incident. He was later sentenced to 20 years in prison.[34][35][36][37]

1973 saw Love Field, which had more than 70 gates and saw frequent Boeing 747 service, reach record enplanements at 6,668,398 as the eighth busiest airport in the United States. On 13 January 1974, DFW Airport opened, ending most passenger service at Love Field.[11][38] Greater Southwest International Airport, which lay in the flight path to DFW, was permanently closed and subsequently demolished.

With the drastic reduction in flights and only 467,212 enplanements in 1975,[11] Love Field decommissioned several of its concourses. The city of Dallas attempted to make use of these dormant facilities by leasing some of them to an entrepreneur who opened the "Llove Entertainment Complex" in November 1975. The main lobby at the front of a former terminal was transformed into movie theaters, ice rink, roller rink, huge video arcades, restaurants and bowling alley. Llove seemed especially suited for the pre-teen and teen crowd, who could spend the day for a single admission charge of about $3.50. Llove closed in May 1978. Several of the concourses were remodeled into support and training buildings for Southwest Airlines.

After deregulation of the U.S. airline industry in 1978, Southwest Airlines announced plans to start interstate service in 1979, a proposal that was quickly endorsed by federal regulators. This upset local officials, who feared that increased commercial traffic at Love Field could threaten DFW Airport's financial stability. Under the pretext of protecting DFW Airport, Fort Worth-based U.S. Representative (later Speaker of the House) Jim Wright pushed a law through Congress, the Wright Amendment, which restricted air service at Love Field in the following ways: Passenger service on regular mid-sized and large aircraft could only be provided from Love Field to locations within Texas and four neighboring states (Louisiana, Arkansas, Oklahoma, and New Mexico). Airlines could not offer connecting flights, through service on another airline, or through ticketing beyond the five-state region. Long-haul service to other states was only allowed using aircraft with 56 or fewer passenger seats.[39]

The amendment dissuaded major airlines from starting service out of Love Field, which freed Southwest from direct competition, and the airline continued to build its Love Field operation by offering convenient short-haul flights. This success eventually prompted other airlines to consider using the airport for short-haul trips. Southwest co-founder Lamar Muse started Muse Air, a short-haul competitor using DC-9s and MD-80s between Love Field and Houston in 1982. Muse Air was unable to operate profitably against Southwest at Love Field, and was purchased by Southwest in 1985, renamed TranStar Airlines, and ultimately shut down in 1987. Continental Airlines expressed its intent to fly out of Love Field in 1985, which led to years of court battles over the interpretation of the Wright Amendment, as Fort Worth and DFW International Airport sought to prevent expansion at Love Field. Although Continental's proposal was ultimately stillborn, it led to a United States Department of Transportation (USDOT) ruling that the Wright Amendment only prohibited through-ticketing specific flight segments to or from Love Field, and that selling a passenger a separate ticket on a connecting flight at another airport—a practice known as double ticketing—was legal if the connecting ticket was requested by the traveler and not solicited by the airline. This further benefited Southwest by allowing a sophisticated passenger to work the system and bypass the Wright ticketing restrictions by flying from Love Field to another airport in the five-state region, changing planes, and then flying on a separate ticket to any city Southwest served.[39]

In the early 1990s, a faction led by Dallas city councilman Jerry Bartos lobbied for the repeal of the Wright Amendment restrictions, but it soon became mired in lawsuits and was halted by Dallas mayor Steve Bartlett following negotiations with the city of Fort Worth. However, in 1996, Love Field-based aviation company Dalfort Aviation announced the launch of Legend Airlines, a new air carrier that would operate long-haul flights under the 56-passenger exemption. Legend CEO and former FAA administrator T. Allan McArtor said that the airline would use older, larger jets modified in an all-business class configuration, claiming that new 56-seat regional jets were too expensive and would not provide Dalfort with much-needed overhaul business. However, the USDOT ruled in September 1996 that the 56-seat restriction applied to the "designed capacity" of an airliner rather than to the number of seats actually installed, prompting Legend to seek a change in the law; Texas Rep. Joe Barton was soon calling for the U.S. House to address of the 56-seat rule.[40][41]

By July 1997, McArtor had enlisted the help of Senator Richard Shelby of Alabama, who proposed to amend the law to allow Legend to use the refurbished planes.[42] In 1997, the Shelby Amendment was passed by Congress; a compromise of sorts, the new law allowed Love Field flights to three more states: Kansas, Mississippi, and Alabama, and amended the definition of 56-passenger jets that could fly to other states to include any aircraft weighing less than 300,000 pounds with 56 or fewer seats.

The Shelby Amendment prompted other airlines to consider flying 56-passenger jets out of Love Field, including Continental and Delta. Fort Worth immediately sued Dallas to prevent the Shelby Amendment from going into effect. American Airlines, headquartered at DFW, joined the lawsuits against Dallas, but also said if other airlines were allowed to fly out of Love Field, it would have no choice but to offer competing service. In 1998, after a year of legal decisions and appeals, Continental Express became only the third airline to fly out of Love Field since 1974 with service to George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston; however, federal courts blocked the airline's proposed interstate service.[43] Despite the Shelby Amendment, Southwest did not add flights to the new states, citing a lack of demand.[44]

On 10 February 2000, a federal judge lifted the injunction against Continental Express' proposed interstate service to Cleveland, and the airline announced that flights would begin on June 1.[45] After further legal battles and delays in gaining final approval from the FAA, Legend began the first long-haul service from Love Field since 1974 with a flight to Washington Dulles International Airport (IAD) on 5 April 2000 using a refurbished 56-seat McDonnell Douglas DC-9.[46] Legend soon operated scheduled passenger service nonstop from Love Field to Los Angeles (LAX), New York LaGuardia Airport (LGA), Las Vegas (LAS), and Dulles.[47] In addition to continuing their legal efforts, American Airlines launched a direct challenge to Legend with its first flights from Love Field since 1974, starting service on 1 May with refitted 56-seat Fokker 100s and offering direct flights to Chicago and Los Angeles.[48]

In 2000, several federal appeals court decisions finally struck down all lawsuits against the Shelby Amendment. Fort Worth and American Airlines appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, which refused to review the case. These decisions opened the door to increased long-haul flights out of Love Field using 56-passenger jets, including new service by Delta, whose regional affiliate Atlantic Southeast Airlines began flights to Delta's Atlanta hub in July. The majority of this 56-passenger jet market was composed of business travelers making day trips to other cities. However, the exclusively 56-seat carrier Legend was unable to operate profitably, and it suspended flight operations indefinitely in early December.

In November 2004, Southwest announced their active opposition to the Wright Amendment, claiming that the law is anti-competitive and outdated – it placed banners throughout the airport grounds stating the phrase, Wright is wrong. In November 2005, Senator Kit Bond of Missouri attached an amendment to a transportation spending bill to exempt his state from the Wright restrictions. Soon after the bill's passage, Southwest began nonstop flights from Love Field to St. Louis and Kansas City on 13 December 2005.[44] The same day, American Airlines announced that it would start service from Love Field to the same Missouri airports on 2 March 2006, along with flights to the Southwest strongholds of San Antonio and Austin.[49]

On 15 June 2006, a compromise was reached between American, Southwest, Dallas/Fort Worth Airport and the cities of Dallas and Fort Worth to repeal the Wright Amendment with several conditions. Among them: the ban on nonstop flights outside the Wright zone would remain until 2014; through-ticketing to domestic airports (connecting flights to long-haul destinations) would be allowed immediately; Love Field's maximum gate capacity would be reduced from 32 to 20 gates; and Love Field would handle only domestic flights non-stop. Southwest would be able to operate from 16 gates, American 2 gates, and Continental 2 gates. U.S. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison led the effort to pass the bill in the Senate while Rep. Kay Granger led a bipartisan Texas House coalition to see the bill through to a successful conclusion in the House. President George W. Bush signed the bill into law on 13 October 2006.[50]

On 17 October 2006, Southwest Airlines announced it would begin one-stop or connecting service between Love Field and 25 destinations outside the Wright zone on 19 October 2006.[51] American Airlines made travel between Love Field and locations outside the Wright zone available by October 18, 2006.[52][53]

In early 2009, a plan to modernize Love Field was announced. The US$519,000,000 master plan would replace the terminals with a new 20-gate concourse and expanded baggage facilities.[38] The project also called for a US$250,000,000 people mover system to connect to Dallas Area Rapid Transit's Burbank Station, but this was eliminated in favor of a cheaper bus connection to Inwood Station.[54]

Aerial photo of Dallas Love Field, looking South with downtown Dallas in the distance.

Southwest Airlines added Baltimore, Denver, Las Vegas, Orlando, Washington–National and Chicago on 13 October 2014, the day the repeal went into effect. The first flight to operate outside of the Wright Amendment restricted area was Southwest Airlines flight 1013 to Denver (the flight number of which was named after the date). On 2 November 2014, Southwest added new service to Atlanta, Nashville, Fort Lauderdale, Los Angeles, New York–LaGuardia, Phoenix, San Diego, Orange County (California) and Tampa.[55]

To get its merger with US Airways approved by the Department of Justice (DOJ), American Airlines was forced to give up its 2 gates at Love Field. Delta Air Lines, Southwest Airlines and Virgin America all expressed interest, while the DOJ indicated a low cost carrier should receive the gates.[56] The former American Airlines gates were granted to Virgin America on October 13, 2014, thus denying the gates to Delta and Southwest.[57][58] In 2018, Virgin America merged into Alaska Airlines, and the two gates assigned to Virgin were transferred to Alaska.[59]

Until 2014, Delta served Love Field by subleasing use of American's gates. After being notified it would have to cease service at Love, Delta threatened to sue the city of Dallas. Southwest agreed to a temporary resolution by agreeing to sublease gate space to Delta until January 2015. When this agreement expired, United Airlines agreed to allow Delta to use one of its gates until July 2015.[60] United had previously agreed to transfer its gate rights to Southwest. The city of Dallas brought a lawsuit in federal court in June 2015 to resolve Delta's claims. In January 2016, Delta won a preliminary injunction to continue service at Love Field using Southwest gate rights, based on federal aviation law and DOT competition policies. As of June 2016, the injunction is being appealed at the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.[61]

In November 2020, the carrier JSX began passenger service from Love Field to Houston Hobby, adding competition to the route dominated by Southwest Airlines. JSX doesn't operate out of the main concourse but instead out of a private terminal on the north side of the airport.

Dallas Love Field has a single terminal with 20 gates.[62] Southwest has leases to all but two of the gates, to which Alaska Airlines leases the remaining two. Delta is using a Southwest gate for their flights pending the outcome of the aforementioned lawsuit.[63] There are no airline lounges in the departures area.

Dallas Area Rapid Transit Route 524, marketed as the Love Link, provides service from the airport terminal to nearby Inwood/Love Field Station, which is served by DART's Orange & Green light rail lines. There is no charge for trips on the Love Link departing the airport terminal, but a valid fare is required for trips to the airport terminal. [64]