FORT WORTH -- American Airlines hopes to lure customers to its new Dallas Love Field service with an advertising campaign it will roll out this week.
The Fort Worth-based airline will begin nonstop service to four cities -- St. Louis and Kansas City, Mo., Austin and San Antonio -- on March 3. It will be American Airlines' first service at Love Field since 2001.
The ads are aimed at Southwest Airlines, which dominates Love with nearly 97 percent of commercial service.
"We're trying to get out the message that you get more airline with American Airlines," said Dan Garton, American's executive vice president of marketing.
The print ads proclaim that the service is "everything you expect from American, now at Love Field."
Garton said American's frequent-flier program, first-class cabins and assigned seating make it a better choice than Dallas-based Southwest.
Both airlines are matching fares, which have dropped as much as 50 percent since Southwest began service to Missouri last year.
Southwest officials said they weren't concerned about losing customers to American.
"They can show us a first-class seat, but we can show them a first-class operation," spokesman Ed Stewart said.
The new service stems from a measure passed by Congress late last year that exempts Missouri from the Wright Amendment, a federal law that bars commercial flights from Love except to Texas, adjacent states, Mississippi, Alabama and Kansas.
Shortly after the law passed, Southwest began nonstop flights to St. Louis and Kansas City from Love, and American announced that it will start flying at Love again.
Both airlines have been offering lucrative frequent-flier awards for travel on the new routes.
American has a deal that lets customers earn up to 60,000 bonus miles for flying to St. Louis, Kansas City, Austin or San Antonio, while Southwest is offering triple rewards to the four cities.
Southwest has been running TV ads in recent weeks touting its new service, saying, "One down and 41 to go."
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