jplatts wrote:

If the gate cap at DAL went away, AA could establish a focus city at DAL with nonstop service to its hubs plus other top destinations such as ATL, AUS, BOS, DEN, DTW, FLL, IAH, HOU, MCI, LAS, MSP, MSY, EWR, MCO, STL, SAT, SAN, SFO, and TPA.

MartijnNL wrote:

A few questions as a European who is not very familiar with Dallas Love Field:
- What does the gate cap mean?
- What does "token service" mean?

jplatts wrote:

sccutler wrote:

AA wouldn't bother, Delta might add a few (but not much), and I expect Alaska to bail soon.

DDR wrote:

AA tried DAL and decided their assets were better used at DFW so I do not think AA would add flights at DAL.

AA had originally planned on resuming service out of DAL after the repeal of the Wright Amendment on October 13, 2014, but those plans were changed when the DOJ required AA to give up its 2 gates at DAL in order to allow the AA-US merger to take place. AA will be allowed to regain access to these 2 gates at DAL on April 26, 2024, and there was an article titled "Southwest, Delta, American and more object to Dallas' Love Field gate plan" (which can be found at https://www.dallasnews.com/business/love-field/2018/05/25/southwest-delta-american-object-dallas-love-field-gate-plan) which stated that AA objected to the City of Dallas's proposal to resolve the DL-WN gate controversy at DAL because "American argu[es that] the city’s proposal would illegally prohibit the Fort Worth-based carrier from serving the airport in the future."

There are indications (including in the Dallas Morning News article that I quoted) that AA might possibly resume service out of DAL on or after April 26, 2024. It is too early to tell at this point if AA is actually planning on resuming service out of DAL in 2024.

jplatts wrote:

compensateme wrote:

AA’s goal is to make $$$$$. Adding service to DAL is counter productive to that goal — huge expenses, less connecting opportunities (which equates into more seats being sold to the local market for less), etc. The days of legacies absorbing large losses for market share are over. DFW/DAL is at 85M passengers — any growth beyond WN at DAL would simply canabilze DFW.

AA actually still serves more than one airport in some of the U.S. metro areas that have more than one commercial airport, including the following:

• Baltimore/Washington region - DCA (AA hub), IAD, BWI
• Greater Houston - IAH and HOU
• Greater Los Angeles - LAX (AA hub), SNA, BUR, ONT, LGB
• Greater Miami - MIA (AA hub), FLL, PBI
• New York City - LGA (AA hub), JFK (AA hub), EWR, HPN, ISP, SWF
• San Francisco Bay Area - SFO, OAK, SJC

AA would probably have resumed service out of DAL on October 13, 2014 if AA wasn't required by the DOJ to give up the 2 gates to VX in order to allow the AA-US merger to take place. AA also serves more than just its hub airports in the Baltimore/Washington region, Greater Los Angeles, Greater Miami, and the NYC metropolitan area.

ridgid727 wrote:

Neeleman would land his new carrier there with a few flights.

jplatts wrote:

The following adds would likely happen at DAL by WN (in addition to already announced upcoming WN nonstop routes out of DAL starting in January 2019) if the gate cap went away at DAL:

• Addition of DAL-BUF, DAL-CVG, DAL-CLE, and DAL-EWR nonstop service
• Revival of DAL-CRP and DAL-HRL nonstop service
• DAL-TUS nonstop service extended to daily year-round nonstop service
• Increased frequencies on some of the existing WN nonstop routes out of DAL

MSJYOP28Apilot wrote:

In the current terminal building, how many gates can be added without additional construction? DAL is relatively tight on space.

MSJYOP28Apilot wrote:

Construction of more gates is expensive and takes time and planning assuming the space is there to do it. I imagine without the current restrictions, not much would change. If there is space in the current terminal to add more gates, they would do that and add service.

jplatts wrote:

CRP is actually one of the top destinations traveled to from DAL that isn't currently served nonstop from DAL. According to the DOT Domestic Consumer Airfare Report, there was an average of 84 passengers traveling between CRP and DAL per day (both directions included) in Q2 2017. CRP is also located in a larger market than AMA, LBB, and MAF are. There are also some destinations that are served nonstop out of DAL but not out of HOU on WN.

jplatts wrote:

flyingclrs727 wrote:

But how many more gates could realistically be built at DAL before it becomes gridlocked? It only has two runways now compared to the three it had before DFW opened. No one would want DAL to get gridlocked like LHR.

SAN is a single-runway airport, and there are over 22 million passengers who fly in and out of SAN each year, compared to 15 million passengers who fly in and out of DAL each year. There are over 27 million passengers who fly in and out of LGA each year, and LGA only has 2 runways. DCA does have 3 runways that intersect each other, and DCA also carries over 22 million passengers a year.

If both SAN and LGA can handle more passengers and more flights than DAL does, DAL can probably handle more flights.

jplatts wrote:

flyingclrs727 wrote:

Why would they bother with DAL-CRP and DAL-HRL? It's more important for those cities to be connected to the DFW hub.

CRP is actually one of the top destinations traveled to from DAL that isn't currently served nonstop from DAL. According to the DOT Domestic Consumer Airfare Report, there was an average of 84 passengers traveling between CRP and DAL per day (both directions included) in Q2 2017. CRP is also located in a larger market than AMA, LBB, and MAF are. There are also some destinations that are served nonstop out of DAL but not out of HOU on WN.

WN dropped DAL-HRL nonstop service to free up room at DAL for the new nonstop routes that were added subsequent to the repeal of the Wright Amendment. HRL, DAL, and MDW are also currently the only airports not served by AA that are served by WN. I agree with your point that it is more important for these cities to be connected to the DFW hub, but AA already does have 7 nonstops to CRP from DFW. On the other hand, while AA serves MFE and BRO in the Rio Grande Valley region, AA doesn't currently serve HRL.

Is the lack of DFW-HRL nonstop service really a huge hole, or is the demand between the DFW Metroplex and the Rio Grande Valley (including the Harlingen area) covered by the AA DFW-MFE nonstops, AA DFW-BRO nonstops, and connections between the DFW Metroplex and the Rio Grande Valley through Houston?

Revelation wrote:

Probably look like any other small airport in the shadow of a bigger airport: LGA, MDW, DCA, etc.

jplatts wrote:

If the gate cap at DAL went away, AA could establish a focus city at DAL with nonstop service to its hubs plus other top destinations such as ATL, AUS, BOS, DEN, DTW, FLL, IAH, HOU, MCI, LAS, MSP, MSY, EWR, MCO, STL, SAT, SAN, SFO, and TPA.