At the Metrocrest Republican Club monthly meeting last night, we had Matthew S. Murphy of the Right To Fly citizen group and Brian Murnahan of the DFW Airport Media Relations Department, speaking for and against lifting restrictions at Dallas Love Field airport, respectively. I learned a few things I didn't know:

1. American Airlines has at least 2 gates of the 32 gates at Love Field.
2. Beside Southwest Airlines who operates 14 gates, Continental Express is another airlines flies out of Love Field utilizing 4 gates and Atlanta Southeast Airlines (ASA), wholly owned subsidiary of Delta Air Lines, also has at least 1 gate.
3. The Wright amendment only put the destination restrictions on flights that have more than 56 seats.
4. Without the Wright Amendment, flights out of Love Field can only be to destinations within the state of Texas. The amendment by then House Majority Leader Democrat Jim Wright of Texas in 1979 added the four surrounding states: New Mexico, Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Louisiana. The 1997 amendment by Republican senator Richard Shelby of Alabama added Missisippi and Alabama. So to lift the restrictions, what we actually want is not the repeal but another amendment to expand further than the Wright and Shelby amendments, adding an additional 42 continental US states to the list of destinations that can be served by Love Field.