DALLAS (By Margaret Allen, Dallas Business Journal) November 11, 2005 — Charging Southwest Airlines Co. with betraying Hispanics, Dallas community leader Adelfa Callejo used a press conference Wednesday to direct strong accusations of dishonesty and discrimination at the carrier.

Callejo, representing the Greater Dallas Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, was speaking in Washington, D.C., at an event hosted by Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport. She also is a former member of the D/FW Airport board. The press conference is in advance of a Senate meeting Thursday to hear testimony for and against repeal of a federal law that limits city-owned Dallas Love Field to short-haul flights.

D/FW Airport and its fortress carrier, Fort Worth-based American Airlines Inc., have been vigorously fighting repeal since Dallas-based Southwest (NYSE: LUV), the monopoly carrier at Love, proposed lifting the ban in November 2004.

Callejo was one of a number of community leaders from around Texas in Washington for the press briefing, which was available to local media by conference call broadcast.

Saying that the community that surrounds Love Field is predominantly Hispanic, Callejo charged that Southwest, which has operated its low-cost flights from the airport since 1979, "has never been a particularly good neighbor."

Repealing the Wright Amendment would create noise, safety issues and pollution for the surrounding Hispanic community, she said.

"Hispanics are the forgotten victims in this debate," Callejo said, adding that Southwest and its "spin doctors" are distorting the truth.

"They want to grow and grow and grow at Love Field and keep other competitors out," she said.

Claiming Southwest is completely disregarding the Latin population around Love Field, Callejo said repeal would double the planes over the neighborhood, despite limits on growth now imposed by the airport's masterplan.

"Throw out the Wright Amendment and you throw out the masterplan," she said.

American (NYSE: AMR) has said that if the Wright Amendment is repealed, it would sue to have the masterplan rewritten to allow for a greater number of operations from the close-in airport.

Pat White, speaking for the Love Field Citizens Action Committee, which is on record as being against repeal, also charged Southwest with betrayal.

"Southwest Airlines has betrayed the community and shown it can no longer be trusted," White said.

Southwest disputed the accusations.

The airline (NYSE: LUV) has been a good neighbor to the surrounding community, said spokeswoman Edna Ruano, who noted she has a grandfather, uncle, aunt and three cousins who live in the Love Field neighborhood.

With the help of federal funds, Southwest was instrumental in soundproofing five area schools with new windows and doors, recently donated $5,000 to a new neighborhood playground facility, and has a long-standing relationship with nearby Circle 10 Boy Scouts of America and the Frontiers of Flight aviation museum, she said. The airline also provides transportation for school trips and has held welcome parties for teachers, she said. In addition, the airline's employees participate in adopt-a-school and board-of-friends programs.

"If the Wright Amendment is repealed, it would only bring benefits to this community," Ruano said. "People are going to see more business pop up in the area and more people frequenting those businesses and it will bring dollars into the community."

She noted that Southwest has garnered support to repeal the amendment from the Hispanic Contractors de Tejas, as well as the Harlingen Hispanic Chamber of Commerce; the San Antonio Hispanic Chamber of Commerce; the California-based Mexican-American Operating Foundation and the South Florida Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.

Southwest has argued for repeal, saying historically high fares out of D/FW Airport would be reduced in response to increased competition.

American's fares from D/FW have already declined 32 percent since its sweeping 2002 fare restructuring, according to Kevin Cox, chief operations officer for D/FW Airport, who also spoke at the conference. One out of eight passengers from D/FW now flies on a low-cost carrier, he said, noting that there are six such carriers with operations at the airport.

The growing low-cost competition out of D/FW has hurt Southwest, Cox indicated.

In January 2002, Southwest had 85 percent of the low-fare market in North Texas, he said. At the time when it called for repeal of the Wright Amendment, Southwest's share had fallen by 10 percent, he said.

Southwest didn't dispute the figures, but Ruano said Southwest's decision to seek repeal was a result of the changing landscape in the airline industry in the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. With Delta Air Lines Inc.'s announcement in 2004 of a massive reduction in its operations from D/FW Airport from January 2005, the opportunity was ripe to serve that airline's markets.

"But we want to do it from our home base," Ruano said.