[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3661 Enrolled Bill (ENR)]


        S.3661

                       One Hundred Ninth Congress

                                 of the

                        United States of America


                          AT THE SECOND SESSION

          Begun and held at the City of Washington on Tuesday,
             the third day of January, two thousand and six


                                 An Act


 
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 of 
2006''.

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, or 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repealed on the date that is 8 years after the date of enactment of 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.--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; except for--
        (1) flights operated by an agency of the Federal Government or 
    by an air carrier under contract with an agency of the Federal 
    Government; and
        (2) irregular operations.
    (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. LOVE FIELD GATES.

    (a) 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. The 
city of Dallas, pursuant to its authority to operate and regulate the 
airport as granted under chapter 22 of the Texas Transportation Code 
and this Act, shall determine the allocation of leased gates and manage 
Love Field in accordance with contractual rights and obligations 
existing as of the effective date of this Act for certificated air 
carriers providing scheduled passenger service at Love Field on July 
11, 2006. To accommodate new entrant air carriers, the city of Dallas 
shall honor the scarce resource provision of the existing Love Field 
leases.
    (b) Removal of Gates at Love Field.--No Federal funds or passenger 
facility charges may be used to remove gates at the Lemmon Avenue 
facility, Love Field, in reducing the number of gates as required under 
this Act, but Federal funds or passenger facility charges may be used 
for other airport facilities under chapter 471 of title 49, United 
States Code.
    (c) General Aviation.--Nothing in 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.--
        (1) In general.--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 actions, either self-initiated or 
    on behalf of third parties--
            (A) that are inconsistent with the contract dated July 11, 
        2006, entered into by the city of Dallas, the city of Fort 
        Worth, the DFW International Airport Board, and others 
        regarding the resolution of the Wright Amendment issues, unless 
        actions by the parties to the contract are not reasonably 
        necessary to implement such contract; or
            (B) that challenge the legality of any provision of such 
        contract.
        (2) Compliance with title 49 requirements.--A contract 
    described in paragraph (1)(A) of this subsection, and any actions 
    taken by the parties to such contract that are reasonably necessary 
    to implement its provisions, shall be deemed to comply in all 
    respects with the parties' obligations under title 49, United 
    States Code.
    (e) Limitation 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 
        security programs of the Department of Homeland Security, 
        including 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 the city of Dallas has reduced the number 
        of gates at Love Field as required by subsection (a); 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 (a); or
                (ii) to modify or eliminate preferential gate 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. APPLICABILITY.

    The provisions of this Act shall apply to actions taken with 
respect to Love Field, Texas, or air transportation to or from 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, or both).

SEC. 7. EFFECTIVE DATE.

    Sections 1 through 6, including 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 which are likely to be conducted after enactment of 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.

                               Speaker of the House of Representatives.

                            Vice President of the United States and    
                                               President of the Senate.