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Posted on 11/30/2005 9:48:10 PM PST by Paleo Conservative
(CBS 11 News) CBS 11 News has learned the City of Dallas is negotiating with Southwest and Continental Airlines to raise landing fees at Dallas Love Field.
The situation has angered the mayor and city council members, who will receive a briefing on the airport budget problems in January.
With operating losses at Love Field and Executive Airport climbing to more than $5.5 million, the city is now taking action.
Assistant City Manager Ryan Evans told CBS 11 News he's pushing staffers to raise the landing fees paid Southwest and Continental airlines charge their customers.
Higher landing fees would give the city instant cash, officials say.
The CBS 11 News reports caught Miller and the council by surprise.
"It's bothersome to me that when you have the most profitable airline in the world based at your airport that you can't make a profit," Dallas Mayor Laura Miller said on Monday.
Dallas City Council member Mitchell Rasansky also is concerned.
"I'm very disillusioned about this. This is another setback for the citizens of Dallas."
The landing fees at Love Field are 35 cents per 1,000 pounds. At DFW Airport, the fees are $4.94, which is lower than what airport managers originally reported.
Those fees were one reason Standard and Poor's and Moody's dropped Love Field's bond rating last year and critics say the city is getting short changed on terminal space and concessions, too.
"We're not charging enough for rentals,” Rasansky said. “That's what several of us have said for years and that they're too cheap today... this is proof. We're losing big money out there."
The city council recently approved a $3 million operating loss at its airports this year.
"It's troublesome to me we went through the entire budget process this year and that we didn't hear about this,” Miller said. “I'd be surprised if any council member here knew we were running Love at a deficit."
Southwest Airlines did not return repeated phone calls seeking comment.
Officials added the airport has been able to cover its operating losses with previous surpluses.
(CBS 11 News)
Video Link:Love Field Landing Fees May Go Up
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"It's bothersome to me that when you have the most profitable airline in the world based at your airport that you can't make a profit," Dallas Mayor Laura Miller said on Monday.
Well, maybe if that profitable airline was allowed by the Federal government to fly to all of the cities it serves, it might bring in some more revenues.
Looks like DFW might get it's wish someday soon.
Here they are, arguing for a repeal of the Wright Amendment, and they don't even know what the operating budget is for Love Field.
Hmm, That's what Bill Clinton's girlfriends all have have been saying lately too.
As much as it pains me to say so, I can find no legitimate reason to oppose the repeal of the Wright amendment. That being said, it should appall the leaders of Dallas that their favored airline has taken advantage of a loophole that allows them to operate revenue flights from what is supposed to have been a general aviation airport for the past thirty years at a price that loses money for the airport. I can't really think of a legitimate reason not to permit Southwest flights out of DAL, but I absolutely can't accept subsidizing them.
I've parsed the story, and it isn't clear that Love Field is losing money. If you read carefully, the losses are a result of the combining the numbers from Love and Executive. I believe Executive is the current name for the former Redbird Airport (the area down there has such a bad reputation, they had to rename both the airport and a half empty shopping mall nearby). Redbird is a giant hole that will absorb whatever money is poured into it to keep the southsiders happy with contract set-asides and hiring quotas. No sane businessman would base his corporate jets there. That's why you see them at Love, Addison, and now McKinney.
It wouldn't surprise me if Love was making a nice profit if evaluated separately.
http://www.setlovefree.com
Dubya just signed the legislation allowing Missouri as the most recent
exemption to The Wright Amendment.
According to www.southwestairlines.com, there will soon be SWA service
from Love Field with MCI (Kansas City) and STL (St. Louis).
Yippee!!!
We're no longer hostage to the DFW and the extra hour drive to
get into Dallas proper (and the hour drive back for the trip out of town)
If Love Field continues to charge fees that are lower than their costs, they will lose even more money if they have more traffic. The City of Dallas is so mismanaged that it wasn't till the congressional hearings about lifting the Wright amendment that it was discovered that Love Field charges landing fees well below those charged at other airports around the US and was being subsidized by the city.
Good observation.
When does a government official care about making a profit? When the government can grab some cash to wipe out that profit.
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