Texas-based start-up carrier Legend Airlines hopes to select an aircraft type and apply for an operating certificate before the end of October, after the US Congress eased restrictions on services from Dallas Love Field.
Legend's plans are dependent upon gaining approval to operate 56-seat, all-business-class, Boeing 737-200s or McDonnell Douglas DC-9s from the airport.
Legislation introduced in 1979, and designed to protect nearby Dallas Fort Worth Airport, limits direct service from Love Field to points within Texas and four contiguous states - unless the aircraft used have 56 seats or fewer. The USDepartment of Transportation had interpreted this as limiting direct service to regional jets, but Congress has ruled that any aircraft configured with 56 seats will be allowed to offer unrestricted flights from the airport.
Love Field is Southwest Airlines' home base, and Legend plans to offer high-frequency business-class services at coach-class fares on routes longer than those which Southwest is permitted to operate.
Continental Express also plans to operate 50-seat Embraer EMB-145s to Love Field from Cleveland, Ohio.
Source: Flight International
