Replies

Actually, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which runs JFK, LaGuardia and Newark, has put in place a premier rule for LaGuardia Airport. Commercial flights over 1,500 miles are restricted from using LaGuardia (except to Denver, which was grandfathered in, or on Saturdays). So you can't even fly from LaGuardia to Austin or San Antonio non-stop, let alone the West Coast. This rule was put in place in part to protect long-haul traffic at JFK.

The Wright Amendment was enacted to allow DFW to be economically built. Otherwise, Dallas residents would have continued just use Love Field and Fort Worth residents Alliance Airport (IIRC, which is also covered under the amendment), and no one would have driven to the new airport which was then in the middle of nowhere. The thought was that everyone in the then relatively small Metroplex would benefit from having one large airport in the middle, with more flights at more times to more places. Whether the rule is still necessary today is debatable. I doubt Love Field could handle a lot of additional traffic - it's not as large as DFW.

An airline could also get around the Wright Amendment by flying planes with 50 seats or less from Dallas Love Field. Those planes could fly to any destination. A start-up carrier tried to do this in the 1990s, was sued by American Airlines and won, but ran out of money shortly after actually starting up because they had to pay millions to their lawyers. And flying 50-seaters just isn't economical.