Southwest has requested gates at new DFW terminal to expand

Southwest Airlines Co. has requested gates in a new terminal planned for Dallas Fort Worth International Airport because it is unable to increase capacity at Love Field.

The airline has been limited to flying in the Dallas area from Love Field under the Wright Amendment of 1979, but that restriction will lift in 2025, Chief Executive Officer Bob Jordan said Wednesday. Southwest has been talking with DFW officials about having a “modest presence” there and has also looked at other area airports, he said. 

“It’s our intent to continue to serve the whole metroplex as it grows,” Jordan said at a Dallas event on Tuesday. “And obviously if you’re constrained and the metroplex is growing, you need to look at other airports to do that.”

Chief Operating Officer Andrew Watterson said Wednesday at the Skift Aviation Forum in Fort Worth that Southwest has put in a request with DFW airport for gates in its future terminal F. The airline isn’t making definitive plans until it has more information on the design of the new terminal project, he said, and this will be at least a couple of years away. 

Watterson said that one advantage of DFW is that it would allow for some international flights that Love Field cannot accommodate. 

Jordan said that the airline is operating 208 flights daily from its 18 of the 20 total gates at Love Field which is space-constrained by its location near downtown Dallas. Jordan said there’s enough demand to increase flights to 300 a day if it had more gates to use. 

Southwest currently is in negotiations with the city of Dallas to renew its lease at Love Field, he said. 

“It’s very important that we secure that access and we continue to be able to provide 208 flights a day to 65 cities here in Dallas,” he said. “At the same time, the metroplex is big and Dallas Love Field is constrained.”