[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5830 Introduced in House (IH)]








109th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 5830

To amend section 29 of the International Air Transportation Competition 
  Act of 1979 relating to air transportation to and from Love Field, 
                                 Texas.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 18, 2006

  Mr. Young of Alaska (for himself, Mr. Oberstar, Mr. Mica, Ms. Eddie 
  Bernice Johnson of Texas, Mr. Marchant, Ms. Granger, Mr. Barton of 
Texas, Mr. Burgess, Mr. Edwards, Mr. Gohmert, Mr. Hall, Mr. Sam Johnson 
 of Texas, and Mr. Sessions) introduced the following bill; which was 
     referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend section 29 of the International Air Transportation Competition 
  Act of 1979 relating to air transportation to and from Love Field, 
                                 Texas.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Wright Amendment Reform Act''.

SEC. 2. MODIFICATION OF PROVISIONS REGARDING FLIGHTS TO AND FROM LOVE 
              FIELD, TEXAS.

    (a) Expanded Service.--Section 29(c) of the International Air 
Transportation Competition Act of 1979 (Public Law 96-192; 94 Stat. 35) 
is amended by striking ``carrier, if (1)'' and all that follows and 
inserting the following: ``carrier. Air carriers and, with regard to 
foreign air transportation, foreign air carriers, may offer for sale 
and provide through service and ticketing to or from Love Field, Texas, 
and any United States or foreign destination through any point within 
Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Kansas, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, 
Missouri, and Alabama.''.
    (b) Repeal.--Section 29 of the International Air Transportation 
Competition Act of 1979 (94 Stat. 35), as amended by subsection (a), is 
repealed on the date that is 8 years after the date of enactment of 
this Act.

SEC. 3. TREATMENT OF INTERNATIONAL NONSTOP FLIGHTS TO AND FROM LOVE 
              FIELD, TEXAS.

    No person shall provide, or offer to provide, air transportation of 
passengers for compensation or hire between Love Field, Texas, and any 
point or points outside the 50 States or the District of Columbia on a 
nonstop basis, and no official or employee of the Federal Government 
may take any action to make or designate Love Field as an initial point 
of entry into the United States or a last point of departure from the 
United States.

SEC. 4. CHARTER FLIGHTS AT LOVE FIELD, TEXAS.

    (a) In General.--Charter flights (as defined in section 212.2 of 
title 14, Code of Federal Regulations) at Love Field, Texas, shall be 
limited to--
            (1) destinations within the 50 States and the District of 
        Columbia, and
            (2) no more than 10 per month per air carrier for charter 
        flights beyond the States of Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, 
        Kansas, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, and 
        Alabama.
    (b) Carriers Who Lease Gates.--Except for any flights operated by 
any agency of the Federal Government or by any air carrier under 
contract with any agency of the Federal Government and except in 
irregular operations described in the agreement referred to in section 
5(a), all flights operated to or from Love Field by air carriers that 
lease terminal gate space at Love Field shall depart from and arrive at 
one of those leased gates.
    (c) Carriers Who Do Not Lease Gates.--Charter flights from Love 
Field, Texas, operated by air carriers that do not lease terminal space 
at Love Field may operate from nonterminal facilities or one of the 
terminal gates at Love Field.

SEC. 5. AGREEMENT OF THE PARTIES.

    (a) In General.--Any action taken by the city of Dallas, the city 
of Fort Worth, Southwest Airlines, American Airlines, and the Dallas-
Fort Worth International Airport Board (referred to in this section as 
the ``parties'') that is reasonably necessary to implement the 
provisions of the agreement dated July 11, 2006, and entitled 
``CONTRACT AMONG THE CITY OF DALLAS, THE CITY OF FORT WORTH, SOUTHWEST 
AIRLINES CO., AMERICAN AIRLINES, INC., AND DFW INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT 
BOARD INCORPORATING THE SUBSTANCE OF THE TERMS OF THE JUNE 15, 2006 
JOINT STATEMENT BETWEEN THE PARTIES TO RESOLVE THE `WRIGHT AMENDMENT' 
ISSUES'', and the agreement, shall be deemed to comply in all respects 
with the parties' obligations under title 49, United States Code, and 
any competition laws.
    (b) Love Field Gates.--
            (1) In general.--The city of Dallas, Texas, shall reduce, 
        as soon as practicable, the number of gates available for 
        passenger air service at Love Field to no more than 20 gates. 
        Thereafter, the number of gates available for such service 
        shall not exceed a maximum of 20 gates.
            (2) Permissible airport costs.--Costs associated with 
        reduction of gates under paragraph (1) are permissible airport 
        costs and shall not be considered as revenue diversion.
    (c) General Aviation.--Nothing in the agreement referred to in 
subsection (a) and this Act shall affect general aviation service at 
Love Field, including flights to or from Love Field by general aviation 
aircraft for air taxi service, private or sport flying, aerial 
photography, crop dusting, corporate aviation, medical evacuation, 
flight training, police or fire fighting, and similar general aviation 
purposes, or by aircraft operated by any agency of the Federal 
Government or by any air carrier under contract to any agency of the 
Federal Government.
    (d) Enforcement.--Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the 
Secretary of Transportation and the Administrator of the Federal 
Aviation Administration may not make findings or determinations, issue 
orders or rules, withhold airport improvement grants or approvals 
thereof, deny passenger facility charge applications, or take any other 
action, either self-initiated or on behalf of third parties, that is 
inconsistent with the provisions of the agreement referred to in 
subsection (a) or that challenges the legality of any of its 
provisions.
    (e) Limitations on Statutory Construction.--
            (1) In general.--Nothing in this Act shall be construed--
                    (A) to limit the obligations of the parties under 
                the programs of the Department of Transportation and 
                the Federal Aviation Administration relating to 
                aviation safety, labor, environmental, national 
                historic preservation, civil rights, small business 
                concerns (including disadvantaged business enterprise), 
                veteran's preference, disability access, and revenue 
                diversion;
                    (B) to limit the authority of the Department of 
                Transportation or the Federal Aviation Administration 
                to enforce the obligations of the parties under the 
                programs described in subparagraph (A);
                    (C) to limit the obligations of the parties under 
                the aviation security programs of the Department of 
                Homeland Security and the Transportation Security 
                Administration at Love Field, Texas;
                    (D) to authorize the parties to offer marketing 
                incentives that are in violation of Federal law, rules, 
                orders, agreements, and other requirements; or
                    (E) to limit the authority of the Federal Aviation 
                Administration or any other Federal agency to enforce 
                requirements of law and grant assurances (including 
                subsections (a)(1), (a)(4), and (s) of section 47107 of 
                title 49, United States Code) that impose obligations 
                on Love Field to make its facilities available on a 
                reasonable and nondiscriminatory basis to air carriers 
                seeking to use such facilities, or to withhold grants 
                or deny applications to applicants violating such 
                obligations with respect to Love Field.
            (2) Facilities.--Paragraph (1)(E)--
                    (A) shall only apply with respect to facilities 
                that remain at Love Field after implementation of 
                subsection (b); and
                    (B) shall not be construed to require the city of 
                Dallas, Texas--
                            (i) to construct additional gates beyond 
                        the 20 gates referred to in subsection (b); or
                            (ii) to modify or eliminate preferential 
                        leases with air carriers in order to allocate 
                        gate capacity to new entrants or to create 
                        common use gates, unless such modification or 
                        elimination is implemented on a nationwide 
                        basis.

SEC. 6. DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION REVIEW.

    The Department of Transportation shall have exclusive authority to 
review actions taken under this Act (including the agreement referred 
to in section 5(a)), and actions taken to implement the agreement, with 
respect to all provisions of title 49, United States Code, and with 
respect to any Federal competition laws not included in such title that 
may otherwise apply.

SEC. 7. APPLICABILITY.

    The provisions of this Act shall apply only to actions taken by the 
parties to the agreement referred to in section 5(a) of this Act at 
Love Field, Texas, and shall have no application to any other airport 
(other than an airport owned or operated by the city of Dallas or the 
city of Fort Worth, Texas, or both).

SEC. 8. EFFECTIVE DATE.

    Sections 1 through 7 and the amendments made by such sections shall 
take effect on the date that the Administrator of the Federal Aviation 
Administration notifies Congress that aviation operations in the 
airspace serving Love Field and the Dallas-Fort Worth area, Texas, 
occurring as a result of the agreement referred to in section 5(a) and 
this Act can be accommodated in full compliance with Federal Aviation 
Administration safety standards in accordance with section 40101 of 
title 49, United States Code, and, based on current expectations, 
without adverse effect on use of airspace in such area.
                                 <all>