Who wants to drive to Dallas? Time for Southwest to show Fort Worth some Love

There’s been little to celebrate about air travel lately, what with delayed and canceled flights, disruptive passengers and ever-increasing fares.

So, Tarrant County travelers are entitled to a little excitement, even premature, over the prospect of Southwest Airlines possibly operating out of Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport.

It’s not certain, and it wouldn’t happen until 2025 at the earliest, when restrictions that would cost the airline flight capacity at Dallas Love Field expire. But Southwest CEO Bob Jordan recently pointed to expansion to DFW as an obvious way for the airline to grow in North Texas.

We can’t tell Southwest what’s best for its business. But we can say there’s an eager market of customers where the west begins. Plenty of people who can’t quite justify the extra drive all the way to Love Field would snatch up Southwest tickets out of the more central airport.

This is no slap at Fort Worth-based American Airlines, the dominant player at DFW and a vital link to the world for Tarrant County and all of North Texas. But coming out of the pandemic, airlines are struggling with costs, staffing and other business challenges. For passengers, more competition can only help with options and prices.

It all might seem odd to newcomers, but Southwest’s operations have been limited for decades. A complex set of restrictions grew out of various concerns, especially the agreement to firmly establish DFW as the region’s dominant airport (and thus a key economic engine). At Love, an airport much more in the heart of the city, there have been more neighbors to consider, so traffic there is limited.

But times have changed, for both Southwest and DFW. In 2025, when an agreement between Southwest and Love expires, the airline will have much more freedom to add flights in the region without losing gates in Dallas. Southwest is much different than it was at the beginning, when the spunky start-up offered a Texas shuttle service. It’s a world-leading airline now.

Southwest can start small if it likes, picking a few likely successful routes from DFW — New York? Las Vegas? — and build from there. Southwest officials have noted that their service model has changed in several large cities. Rather than concentrating on one airport, Southwest has been offering services to different ports in places such as Los Angeles and Chicago.

Southwest has other options in the area, including an airport in McKinney. DFW Airport leaders and other stakeholders should work to get Southwest to come west, not north. No offense to fast-growing Collin County, but there’s too many passengers looking for more options in Tarrant and its neighbors, which are also robustly adding population.

Southwest is unlikely to make a big play for DFW or greatly reduce its service to Love Field, its home for decades. And that’s OK; just a few routes to begin with could add choice for DFW passengers, and it would be even better if Southwest celebrates the move with some of its famous fare sales.

The fact that the gears are moving and Southwest officials are openly talking about the possibilities is encouraging.

Southwest popularized the ad tagline “you are now free to move about the country.” We’re glad to see the airline will soon be free to move about Dallas-Fort Worth.

This story was originally published August 5, 2022 at 1:54 PM.