The Wright Amendment & the Airline Industry

The Wright Amendment was a special interest addition to a major bill dealing with the airline industry that was enacted in the late-1970s. The provisions of the Amendment were quite narrow in their application, and thus affected some airline companies more than other (Weisman 2471). Perhaps the airline that the Amendment has most affected over the last 23 and one-half years since its implementation is Southwest Airlines (Schnurman C1). This paper (a) reviews the history and significance of the Wright Amendment and (b) assesses the effects of the Amendment on the airline industry with a special focus on the effects of the Amendment on Southwest Airlines.

History and Significance of the Wright Amendment

The Wright Amendment was an added provision [Section 29] to the International Air Transportation Act of 1978 (Public Law 96-192:S.1300 Sec. 29). The AmendmentÆs name derived from its chief sponsor, United States Congressman from Texas Jim Wright. Wright was not just one more member of the House of Representatives. Rather, he was, at the time of the enactment of the law the Democratic Majority Leader in a chamber controlled by the Democrats. Nine years later, Jim Wright was elected Speaker of the House of Representatives (Seligman 167).

The Wright Amendment addressed specifically and only air transportation by common carrier between Love Field in Dallas and any location

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he Amendment and (b) the responses to the Amendment by airline companies, especially Southwest Airlines. With respect to Southwest Airlines specifically, the actions against the company and its responses to those actions that occurred from 1967 through 1978 influenced both the effects of the Amendment on the company and the character of the companyÆs responses to the AmendmentÆs restrictions. In 1967, Southwest Airlines was launched as an intrastate air carrier in Texas. As an intrastate carrier, Southwest Airlines was not subject to federal regulatory authority in relation to scheduling, routing, fares, and so forth, although its was subject to federal safety regulations. Legal challenges filed by competitors delayed getting its planes into the air. When Southwest was formed in 1967, it had to overcome opposition by Trans Texas and Braniff through four-years of law suits, before it was able to begin flying in 1971. Braniff and Trans Texas eventually pleaded no contest to charges that they conspired to prevent South west from initiating a no-frills, low-price operation (Simon 42). As noted above, as an intrastate carrier Southwest was not subject to the market regulating activities of the federal government. With this regula
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Approximate Word count = 2441
Approximate Pages = 10 (250 words per page)

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