Dallas Love Field

Love Field in 1918 during World War I

136th Aero Squadron (Later Squadron "C") Love Field Texas, 1918

Training flight of 4 Curtiss JN-4Ds from Love Field

Instructor pilot sitting in a Curtis JN-4

Dallas Love Field has its origins in 1917 when the Army announced it would establish a series of camps to train prospective pilots after the United States entered into World War I. The airfield was one of thirty-two new Air Service fields.[5] It was constructed just southeast of Bachman Lake, and it covered over 700 acres and could accommodate up to 1,000 personnel. Dozens of wooden buildings served as headquarters, maintenance, and officers’ quarters. Enlisted men had to bivouac in tents.[6]

Love Field served as a base for flight training for the United States Army Air Service. In 1917, flight training occurred in two phases: primary and advanced. Primary training took eight weeks and consisted of pilots learning basic flight skills under dual and solo instruction. After completion of their primary training at Love Field, flight cadets were transferred to another base for advanced training.[6]

After officially opening on October 19, 1917, the first unit stationed at Love Field was the 136th Aero Squadron, which was transferred from Kelly Field, south of San Antonio, Texas. Only a few U.S. Army Air Service aircraft arrived with the 136th Aero Squadron, and most of the Curtiss JN-4 Jennys to be used for flight training were shipped in wooden crates by railcar.[6] Training units assigned to Love Field during World War I were:[7]

• Post Headquarters, Love Field, October 1917 – December 1919
• 71st Aero Squadron (II), February 1918

Re-designated as Squadron "A", July–November 1918

• 121st Aero Squadron (II), April 1918

Re-designated as Squadron "B", July–November 1918

• 136th Aero Squadron (II), November 1917

Re-designated as Squadron "C", July–November 1918

• 197th Aero Squadron, November 1917

Re-designated as Squadron "D", July–November 1918

• Flying School Detachment (Consolidation of Squadrons A-D), November 1918 – November 1919

The 865th Aero Squadron (Repair), was formed at Love Field in March 1918 as a support unit for JN-4 aircraft repair and maintenance. It was assigned to the Aviation Repair Depot, Dallas Texas (at Love Field) in April 1918. It was demobilized in March 1919.

With the sudden end of World War I in November 1918, the future operational status of Love Field was unknown. Many local officials speculated the U.S. government would keep the field open because of the outstanding combat record established by Love-trained pilots in Europe. Locals also pointed to the optimal weather conditions in the Dallas area for flight training. Cadets in flight training on November 11, 1918, were allowed to complete their training; however, no new cadets were assigned to the base. Also the separate training squadrons were consolidated into a single Flying School detachment, as many of the personnel assigned were being demobilized.[6]

With the end of World War I, in December 1919 Love Field was deactivated as an active duty airfield and converted into a storage facility for surplus De Havilland and JN-4 aircraft, some of the latter having been brought bought back by the Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company in the spring of 1919.[8]^:12 In what was called "the largest recruiting mission in the spring and summer of 1919", Lt. Col. Henry B. Clagett began with seven DH-4s departing Dallas and flying as far as Boston.[8]^:8 A small caretaker unit was assigned to the facility for administrative reasons and it was used intermittently to support small military units.

In January 1921, 1st Lt William D. Coney attempted to fly from San Diego to Jacksonville with just one stop—at Love Field.[8]^:177 In 1921, the aviation repair depot next to Love Field moved to Kelly Field in San Antonio to consolidate with the supply depot at Kelly and form the San Antonio Intermediate Air Depot. In 1923, Dallas was a route point between Muskogee and Kelly Field on the southern division of the model airway.[8]^:152 However, by 1923, the decision had been made to phase down all activities at the new base in accordance with sharply reduced military budgets and it was closed. The War Department had ordered the small caretaker force at Love Field to dismantle all remaining structures and to sell them as surplus. The War Department leased out the vacant land to local farmers and ranchers.

In 1927, Dallas purchased Love Field, which opened for civilian use (1st passenger service was by the National Air Transport company.)[9] On April 9, 1932, the first paved runways at the airfield were completed,[10] and in March 1939 the airfield had 21 weekday airline departures: 9 American, 8 Braniff and 4 Delta.[11] "On 6 June 1939, the War Department approved...nine civil school detachments", including one at Dallas[12]^:18 (cf. a 1940 school approved for Ft Worth's Hicks Field,[12]^:26 a new 1942 Ft Worth airfield—Tarrant Field at the government plant and that had a 4 engine pilots' school,[12]^:69) and a Ferrying Command control center at Dallas' Hensley Field.[12]^:144)

By October 1940 at the Texas Army Airfields,[12]^:29 classes had entered the Dallas Texas Aviation School, which provided basic (level 1) flight training using Fairchild PT-19s as the primary trainer (several PT-17 Stearmans and a few P-40 Warhawks were also assigned.) The Gulf Coast ACTC school later moved to Brady, Texas;[12]^:32 and Love Field also had an Air Materiel Command modification center.[12]^:141 In September 1942, the Air Transport Command activity at Hensley Field moved to Love Field.[12]^:146 ATC's 5th Ferrying Group, consisting of Women's Auxiliary Ferrying Squadrons (WAFS) ferried PT-17s, AT-6s and twin-engine Cessna AT-17s; and Love Field was also used by the San Antonio Air Service Command for aircraft overhauls. The 2d Ferrying Squadron of the 5th Ferrying Group was moved by Air Transport Command from Love Field to Fairfax Field at Kansas City on April 15, 1943.[13]

In September 1943 a new north-south runway 18/36 and northwest-southeast runway 13/31 were completed. Air Force facilities closed at the end of World War II[14][15] except for Love Field's automatic tracking radar station (call sign Dallas Bomb Plot) for Radar Bomb Scoring that had been established by June 6, 1945[16] (transferred to Strategic Air Command on March 21, 1946, 10th RBSS Det 1 by 1957.)[17]

Postwar aerial view with Lemmon Ave. terminal and Runway 7/25 prior to closure, March 11, 1949

On October 6, 1940, Love Field's Lemmon Avenue Terminal Building opened on the east side of the airfield.

On November 29, 1949, American Airlines Flight 157, a Douglas DC-6 en route from New York City to Dallas and Mexico City with 46 passengers and crew, slid off Runway 36 after the flight crew lost control on final approach. The airliner struck buildings[N 1] and caught fire, killing 28. This was the deadliest air disaster in Texas history at the time[18] and, according to modern reference sources,[19] remains the deadliest crash at the airfield.

Pioneer Airlines moved its base from Houston to Love Field in 1950.[10]

In 1953, Fort Worth opened Amon Carter Field, which would later become Greater Southwest International Airport, to compete with Love Field. Fort Worth had attempted to negotiate with Dallas to collaborate on the new airport, but Dallas repeatedly declined those attempts. Upon completion, all of the passenger airlines were transferred from Fort Worth's previous airline airport, Meacham Field, to Greater Southwest, leaving Love Field and Greater Southwest as the only air transportation options for the Dallas-Fort Worth area.

The February 1953 C&GS diagram shows runway 7 (4301 ft), runway 13 (6201 ft) and runway 18 (5202 ft). On June 1, 1954 Runway 7/25 was closed;[10] it was later removed to allow terminal expansion. Love Field then had two runways: Runway 13/31, the main runway, and the shorter 18/36.

The April 1957 Official Airline Guide shows 52 weekday departures on Braniff, 45 on American, 25 Delta, 21 Trans-Texas, 12 Central and 9 Continental.[20] Three nonstops a day to Washington DC, three to New York/Newark, six to Chicago, five to California and 12 a week to Mexico City.

United States President John F. Kennedy and Jacqueline Kennedy arrive at Love Field, November 22, 1963

Continental and Delta aircraft at Love Field in 1966, shortly before terminal modernization began

Love Field's new terminal (the third terminal, designed by Donald S. Nelson[21]) opened to the airlines on January 20, 1958,[10] with three one-story concourses, 26 ramp-level gates and the world's first airport moving walkways.[22] Airlines serving the airport at the time included American, Braniff, Central (which was based in Fort Worth), Continental, Delta, Pan Am and Trans Texas (later Texas International).

Turbine-power flights began on April 1, 1959, when Continental Airlines introduced the Vickers Viscount turboprop. Jet airline flights began on July 12, 1959, when American Airlines started Boeing 707 flights to New York.

In 1961, Mr. and Mrs. Earle Wyatt gave a large bronze statue bearing the inscription "One Riot, One Ranger" for display in the airport's new terminal. Famed Texas-born sculptress Waldine Tauch created the piece. The inscription refers to an incident in which a single Texas Ranger was dispatched to quell a riot.[10] Because of terminal renovation from 2010 to 2013, the statue was moved temporarily for display to the nearby Frontiers of Flight Museum, but the statue has now been returned to a prominent location in the lobby of terminal one (August 2013). The statue was removed in June 2020.[23][24]

On November 22, 1963, United States President John F. Kennedy arrived at Love Field on Air Force One, and was assassinated in Dealey Plaza less than one hour later while his motorcade was traveling from Love Field to the Dallas Trade Mart and died at Parkland Memorial Hospital. Texas Governor John Connally was riding in the presidential limousine and was seriously wounded. Ninety minutes later, Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson was sworn in as president aboard Air Force One before its departure from Love Field to Washington D.C.

On April 2, 1965, the 8,800 ft (2,682 m) parallel Runway 13R/31L opened (Runway 13/31 became Runway 13L/31R).[25] The project had been vexed by legal wrangling; safety concerns were raised regarding its proximity to schools[26] and its minimal safety areas,[27] while nearby residents attempted to stop the anticipated increase in jet noise and the removal of homes and businesses adjacent to the airport to accommodate the project.[28][29]

Several terminal expansion programs were fueled by the boom in air travel during the 1960s. American Airlines expanded their concourse in 1968 and Braniff opened its "Terminal of the Future." The expansion, showcasing Alexander Girard, Herman Miller and Ray and Charles Eames designs, featured the first rotunda concourse, jet bridges and several airport innovations. Braniff connected their new terminal to new remote parking lots with the Jetrail monorail system in 1970.[30] Texas International expanded their concourse in 1969, and Delta's concourse was expanded in 1970.[10] By 1972, American used 14 gates on the west end of the terminal, Delta used 13 gates, Braniff and Ozark together used 13 gates on the east end of the terminal, and Texas International used seven gates.[31]

In 1964, the FAA, tired of funding competing commercial airports in Dallas and Fort Worth, gave the two cities a six-month period to plan a new regional airport. Ultimately, they agreed to build Dallas/Fort Worth Regional Airport (now Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport), and to restrict air-carrier operations at their respective municipal airports to promote the new facility.

Southwest Airlines, founded in 1971 and headquartered at Love Field, built its business on selling quick, no-frills trips between Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio. The company felt that the notion of a quick trip would be destroyed by a long drive to the new airport. Prior to the opening of DFW, Southwest Airlines sued for the right to remain at Love Field. In 1973 the courts ruled that the City of Dallas could not restrict Southwest Airlines from operating out of Love Field, so long as it remained open as an airport. This ruling effectively granted Southwest the right to continue to operate its existing intrastate service out of Love Field. The airlines operating from Love Field at the time DFW was conceived executed agreements with DFW stipulating that no airline could operate at the new airport if it continued to operate any flights out of Love Field. Southwest, created after the other carriers had signed on to the DFW operating agreements, was not a signatory and remained as the only airline operating at Love Field.[10]

In 1972, Love Field saw an aircraft hijacking. On January 12, Billy Gene Hurst, Jr., a resident of Houston, hijacked Braniff Flight 38, a Boeing 727 airliner, as it departed William P. Hobby Airport in Houston bound for Dallas. After the plane landed at Love Field, Hurst allowed all 94 passengers to deplane, but continued to hold the 7 crewmembers hostage. Hurst insisted on flying to South America and made a variety of other demands, including food, cigarettes, parachutes, jungle survival gear, US$2 million, and a handgun. After a 6-hour standoff, police gave Hurst a package containing parachutes and some other items, and the hostages escaped while he was distracted examining the package's contents. Police stormed the craft soon afterwards and arrested him without serious incident. He was later sentenced to 20 years in prison.[32][33][34][35]

1973 saw Love Field, which had more than 70 gates and saw frequent Boeing 747 service, reach record enplanements at 6,668,398 as the eighth busiest airport in the United States. On January 13, 1974, DFW Airport opened, ending most passenger service at Love Field.[10][36] Greater Southwest International Airport, which lay in the flight path to DFW, was permanently closed and subsequently demolished.

With the drastic reduction in flights and only 467,212 enplanements in 1975,[10] Love Field decommissioned several of its concourses. The city of Dallas attempted to make use of these dormant facilities by leasing some of them to an entrepreneur who opened the "Love Entertainment Complex" in November 1975. The main lobby at the front of a former terminal was transformed into movie theaters, ice rink, roller rink, huge video arcades, restaurants and bowling alley. Love seemed especially suited for the pre-teen and teen crowd, who could spend the day for a single admission charge of about $3.50. Love closed in May 1978. Several of the concourses were remodeled into support and training buildings for Southwest Airlines.

After deregulation of the U.S. airline industry in 1978, Southwest Airlines announced plans to start interstate service in 1979, a proposal that was quickly endorsed by federal regulators. This upset local officials, who feared that increased commercial traffic at Love Field could threaten DFW Airport's financial stability. Under the pretext of protecting DFW Airport, Fort Worth-based U.S. Representative (later Speaker of the House) Jim Wright pushed a law through Congress, the Wright Amendment, which restricted air service at Love Field in the following ways: Passenger service on regular mid-sized and large aircraft could only be provided from Love Field to locations within Texas and four neighboring states (Louisiana, Arkansas, Oklahoma, and New Mexico). Airlines could not offer connecting flights, through service on another airline, or through ticketing beyond the five-state region. Long-haul service to other states was only allowed using aircraft with 56 or fewer passenger seats.[37]

While the amendment dissuaded major airlines from starting service out of Love Field, it freed Southwest from direct competition, and the airline continued to build its Love Field operation by offering convenient short-haul flights. This success eventually prompted other airlines to consider using the airport for short-haul trips. Southwest co-founder Lamar Muse started Muse Air, a short-haul competitor using DC-9s and MD-80s between Love Field and Houston in 1982. Muse Air was unable to operate profitably against Southwest at Love Field, and was purchased by Southwest in 1985, renamed TranStar Airlines, and ultimately shut down in 1987. Continental Airlines expressed its intent to fly out of Love Field in 1985, which led to years of court battles over the interpretation of the Wright Amendment, as Fort Worth and DFW International Airport sought to prevent expansion at Love Field. Although Continental's proposal was ultimately stillborn, it led to a United States Department of Transportation (USDOT) ruling that the Wright Amendment only prohibited through-ticketing specific flight segments to or from Love Field, and that selling a passenger a separate ticket on a connecting flight at another airport—a practice known as double ticketing—was legal if the connecting ticket was requested by the traveler and not solicited by the airline. This further benefited Southwest by allowing a sophisticated passenger to work the system and bypass the Wright ticketing restrictions by flying from Love Field to another airport in the five-state region, changing planes, and then flying on a separate ticket to any city Southwest served.[37]

The Wright Amendment became controversial in Dallas; some argued that it unfairly restricted airline competition, while others supported it to mitigate jet noise and protect property values near the airport. In late 1989, Kansas U.S. House Rep. Dan Glickman sponsored a bill calling for the amendment's repeal, and in September of that year, the Dallas City Council approved a resolution calling for the amendment's four-state limit to be changed to a 650 mi (1,050 km) perimeter limit allowing direct flights to Denver and Nashville.[38] By 1990, Southwest was supportive of the resolution, but it galvanized opposition by local property owners, and many people were alarmed when American Airlines declared that it could cancel a proposed terminal project at DFW and move many flights to Love.[39] In early July, Texas members of the U.S. House Rules Committee blocked Glickman's bill, Dallas mayor Annette Strauss withdrew her support, and the City Council rescinded their 1989 vote.[40][41]

A faction led by Dallas city councilman Jerry Bartos continued to lobby for a repeal of the Wright Amendment restrictions, culminating in a renewed repeal effort in 1992, but it soon became mired in lawsuits and was halted by Dallas mayor Steve Bartlett following negotiations with the city of Fort Worth. However, in 1996, Love Field-based aviation company Dalfort Aviation announced the launch of Legend Airlines, a new air carrier that would operate long-haul flights under the 56-passenger exemption. Legend CEO and former FAA administrator T. Allan McArtor said that the airline would use older, larger jets modified in an all-business class configuration, claiming that new 56-seat regional jets were too expensive and would not provide Dalfort with much-needed overhaul business. However, the USDOT ruled in September 1996 that the 56-seat restriction applied to the "designed capacity" of an airliner rather than to the number of seats actually installed, prompting Legend to seek a change in the law; Texas Rep. Joe Barton was soon calling for the U.S. House to address of the 56-seat rule.[42][43]

By July 1997, McArtor had enlisted the help of Senator Richard Shelby of Alabama, who proposed to amend the law to allow Legend to use the refurbished planes.[44] In 1997, the Shelby Amendment was passed by Congress; a compromise of sorts, the new law allowed Love Field flights to three more states: Kansas, Mississippi, and Alabama, and amended the definition of 56-passenger jets that could fly to other states to include any aircraft weighing less than 300,000 pounds with 56 or fewer seats.

The Shelby Amendment prompted other airlines to consider flying 56-passenger jets out of Love Field, including Continental and Delta. Fort Worth immediately sued Dallas to prevent the Shelby Amendment from going into effect. American Airlines, headquartered at DFW, joined the lawsuits against Dallas, but also said if other airlines were allowed to fly out of Love Field, it would have no choice but to offer competing service. In 1998, after a year of legal decisions and appeals, Continental Express became only the third airline to fly out of Love Field since 1974 with service to George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston; however, federal courts blocked the airline's proposed interstate service.[45]

Despite the Shelby Amendment, Southwest did not add flights to the new states, citing a lack of demand.[46]

On February 10, 2000, a federal judge lifted the injunction against Continental Express' proposed interstate service to Cleveland, and the airline announced that flights would begin on June 1.[47] After further legal battles and delays in gaining final approval from the FAA, Legend began the first long-haul service from Love Field since 1974 with a flight to Washington Dulles International Airport (IAD) on April 5, 2000 using a refurbished 56-seat McDonnell Douglas DC-9.[48] Legend soon operated scheduled passenger service nonstop from Love Field to Los Angeles (LAX), New York LaGuardia Airport (LGA), Las Vegas (LAS), and Dulles.[49] In addition to continuing their legal efforts, American Airlines launched a direct challenge to Legend with its first flights from Love Field since 1974, starting service on 1 May with refitted 56-seat Fokker 100s and offering direct flights to Chicago and Los Angeles.[50]

In 2000, several federal appeals court decisions finally struck down all lawsuits against the Shelby Amendment. Fort Worth and American Airlines appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, which refused to review the case. These decisions opened the door to increased long-haul flights out of Love Field using 56-passenger jets, including new service by Delta, whose regional affiliate Atlantic Southeast Airlines began flights to Delta's Atlanta hub in July. The majority of this 56-passenger jet market was composed of business travelers making day trips to other cities. However, the exclusively 56-seat carrier Legend was unable to operate profitably, and it suspended flight operations indefinitely in early December.

In 2001, the September 11 attacks and the subsequent recession greatly reduced the demand for air travel in the U.S., especially within the business traveler market. American quickly ceased long-haul 56-passenger flights and pulled out of Love Field. By 2003, Southwest and Continental Express were the only two major commercial airlines operating out of Love Field. However, due to Southwest's success and the possibility of other airlines returning, the airport expanded its parking facilities and redeveloped one of its terminals.

New parking facilities in a 2,400-space garage opened in 2002 and 2003, connected to the terminal with a climate controlled walkway. The East Concourse, formerly Braniff's "Terminal of the Future," was demolished as part of the Love Field Modernization Program.[10]

In 2002, Love Field was designated as a Texas State Historical Site in 2003.

The Frontiers of Flight Museum, which had been inside the airport terminal since 1988, moved to the north side of the airport in a separate facility.

In November 2004, Southwest announced their active opposition to the Wright Amendment, claiming that the law is anti-competitive and outdated – it placed banners throughout the airport grounds stating the phrase, "Wright is wrong". In November 2005, Senator Kit Bond of Missouri attached an amendment to a transportation spending bill to exempt his state from the Wright restrictions. Soon after the bill's passage, Southwest began nonstop flights from Love Field to St. Louis and Kansas City on December 13, 2005.[46] The same day, American Airlines announced that it would start service from Love Field to the same Missouri airports on March 2, 2006, along with flights to the Southwest strongholds of San Antonio and Austin.[51]

On June 15, 2006, it was announced that American Airlines, Southwest Airlines, Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport and the cities of Dallas and Fort Worth had all agreed to seek full repeal of the Wright Amendment, with several conditions. Among them: the ban on nonstop flights outside the Wright zone would remain until 2014; through-ticketing to domestic airports (connecting flights to long-haul destinations) would be allowed immediately; Love Field's maximum gate capacity would be reduced from 32 to 20 gates; and Love Field would handle only domestic flights non-stop. Southwest would be able to operate from 16 gates, American 2 gates, and Continental 2 gates. JetBlue and Northwest Airlines claimed that the gate cap would effectively ban any airlines not named in the compromise to ever operate from Love Field, even though the agreement called for Southwest, American and Continental to share gates with new airlines that desired to serve the airport. The cap of 20 gates would effectively restrict the purpose of the 2014 lifting of the ban on nonstop flights outside the Wright zone.

After extensive negotiations with the House and Senate Judiciary Committees, the compromise bill passed both Houses of Congress on Friday, September 29, just before the 109th Congress adjourned for the November elections. U.S. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison led the effort to pass the bill in the Senate while Rep. Kay Granger led a bipartisan Texas House coalition to see the bill through to a successful conclusion in the House. President George W. Bush signed the bill into law on October 13, 2006.[52] Southwest and American Airlines then required approval from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to begin one-stop flights from Love Field to destinations outside the Wright limits.[53]

On October 17, 2006, Southwest Airlines announced it would begin one-stop or connecting service between Love Field and 25 destinations outside the Wright zone on October 19, 2006.[54] American Airlines made travel between Love Field and locations outside the Wright zone available by October 18, 2006.[55][56]

In early 2009, a plan to modernize Love Field was announced. The $519 million master plan would replace the terminals with a new 20-gate concourse and expanded baggage facilities.[36] The project also called for a $250 million people mover system to connect to Dallas Area Rapid Transit's Burbank Station,[57] but this was eliminated in favor of a cheaper bus connection to Inwood Station.[58]

Aerial photo of Dallas Love Field, looking South with downtown Dallas in the distance.

Southwest Airlines added Baltimore, Denver, Las Vegas, Orlando, Washington–National and Chicago on October 13, 2014, the day the repeal went into effect. The first flight to operate outside of the Wright Amendment restricted area was Southwest Airlines flight 1013 to Denver (the flight number of which was named after the date). On November 2, 2014, Southwest added new service to Atlanta, Nashville, Fort Lauderdale, Los Angeles, New York–LaGuardia, Phoenix, San Diego, Orange County (California) and Tampa.[59]

To get its merger with US Airways approved by the Department of Justice (DOJ), American Airlines was forced to give up its 2 gates at Love Field. Delta Air Lines, Southwest Airlines and Virgin America all expressed interest, while the DOJ indicated a low cost carrier should receive the gates.[60] The former American Airlines gates were granted to Virgin America on October 13, 2014, thus denying the gates to Delta and Southwest.[61][62]

Until 2014, Delta served Love Field by subleasing use of American's gates. After being notified it would have to cease service at Love, Delta threatened to sue the city of Dallas. Southwest agreed to a temporary resolution by agreeing to sublease gate space to Delta until January 2015. When this agreement expired, United Airlines agreed to allow Delta to use one of its gates until July 2015.[63] United had previously agreed to transfer its gate rights to Southwest. The city of Dallas brought a lawsuit in federal court in June 2015 to resolve Delta's claims. In January 2016, Delta won a preliminary injunction to continue service at Love Field using Southwest gate rights, based on federal aviation law and DOT competition policies. As of June 2016, the injunction is being appealed at the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.[64]

On Monday, December 8, 2014, city officials announced a plan to add 4,000 parking spaces at Love Field, including the proposed construction of a 5-level parking garage across from Ticket Hall. Despite a 2008 forecast predicting Love Field would have adequate parking to meet demand through 2018, the airport ran out of parking around midday on Thanksgiving, November 27, 2014, forcing arriving travelers to park off-airport and use other means to reach their flights. The parking shortage is expected to worsen in 2015 as the anticipated number of daily departures increases from 148 to 190.[65]

Runway 18/36, which had only 1% of operations in 2010, was closed in 2011 and is scheduled to be eliminated in 2017, due to its close proximity to housing on either side and the desire to build new office space at the south end.[66][67]

In 2018, Virgin America merged into Alaska Airlines, and the two gates assigned to Virgin America were transferred to Alaska.

As of March 2020, Southwest, Delta, and Alaska are the only major airlines to offer flights out of Love Field. Taos Air operates seasonal scheduled skiing-oriented flights to Taos Regional Airport in New Mexico using a 30-seat Fairchild Dornier 328JET.

Modernization of Love Field's terminals was announced in early 2009. The $519 million master plan replaced the existing terminal buildings with a single new 20-gate concourse.

Southwest has preferential leases to all but two of the gates, Gates 11 and 13, to which Alaska Airlines has preferential leases. A temporary gate-sharing agreement between Southwest and Delta and a similar agreement between United and Southwest ended on January 5 and 6, 2015, respectively, to allow expansion of the Southwest and United flight schedules.[69] United and Delta then entered into another agreement, permitting Delta to share one of United's gates until July 6, 2015.[63]

On January 30, 2015, Southwest Airlines announced they had entered into a sub-lease agreement for United's 2 Love Field gates; United ended service to Love Field on March 15, 2015. Southwest has announced additional flights and cities with the two extra gates.[70]

Since August 2015, Delta and Southwest have been fighting a legal battle over whether Delta should be allowed to remain at Love Field.[71] Delta has been sharing a Southwest gate, which has allegedly been impeding Southwest from adding more flights from the airport.[72] On January 9, 2016, the court ruled in favor of Delta.[73] Delta is now legally allowed to remain operating from Love Field using a Southwest gate.[74]

Currently, DART bus route 524 serves the airport terminal directly. Passengers can ride this bus route to nearby Inwood/Love Field Station, which is served by DART's Orange & Green light rail lines. There is no walking path between the terminal and the rail station, so passengers must take the bus to travel to or from the airport by rail.