Southwest, Phoenix Officials to Meet
Southwest Airlines executives will meet with city officials from Phoenix in coming weeks to hear a proposal for moving the airline's corporate headquarters to the desert city.
Officials with Southwest said Friday that the meeting was requested by Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon, and they stress that no decision on a relocation has been made.
But executives with the airline have hinted for more than a year that they might consider a move if the Wright Amendment remains in place.
"We have a limited ability to grow [in Dallas] because of the Wright Amendment," said Ed Stewart, Southwest spokesman. "The good people in Phoenix are very aware of that."
The loss of Southwest, one of the most prominent companies based in Dallas, would be a blow to the city. The airline has 3,000 employees at its headquarters and a total of 5,400 in North Texas. This week, Fortune magazine ranked Southwest No. 3 on its list of most-admired companies in America.
The Wright Amendment, a 1979 federal law, restricts service from Dallas Love Field to Texas and adjacent states. It was later amended to allow service to Kansas, Alabama and Mississippi, and last year Missouri was also added.
But the measure still makes it difficult for Southwest to have a major operation in Dallas, Stewart said. Southwest refuses to operate at Dallas/Fort Worth Airport, saying that the smaller Love Field better fits its business model. Over the past year, several cities have approached Southwest about a corporate relocation, Stewart said. But the Phoenix meeting will be the first time Chief Executive Gary Kelly will hear a formal presentation.
"Southwest has a huge presence here," said Scott Phelps, a spokesman for Gordon. "The mayor has expressed his willingness to do whatever he can to help them expand here, and if that includes their headquarters, we think it would be a great decision."
The meeting has not been scheduled but Stewart said, "I expect it will be sooner than later."
The Phoenix area is home to another major airline, U.S. Airways, which is based in Tempe. That airline is the result of a merger between America West Airlines, which had been headquartered in Tempe, and U.S. Airways, which was based in the Washington, D.C., area.
Southwest has a major operation at Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport, with 196 daily departures. At Love, the airline has 112 daily flights.
In recent weeks, officials with Dallas and Fort Worth have discussed crafting a local solution to the Wright Amendment issue before Congress repeals the restrictions entirely. A compromise could include creating a regional airport authority that would operate both Love Field and Dallas/Fort Worth Airport.
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