Dallas Love Field (DAL)
Dallas Love Field (DAL) at a glance
Dallas Love Field (DAL) is Southwest Airlines made into an airport: a single-terminal, 20-gate field 10 kilometers from downtown Dallas where Southwest holds 18 gates, keeps its headquarters next door, and began its whole story in 1971. For four decades the Wright Amendment restricted where Love Field could fly, protecting the giant Dallas Fort Worth hub up the road; its full repeal in 2014 turned the airport into one of the busiest medium-size fields in America, handling around 17 million passengers a year.
The constraint now is physical and legal at once: a federal agreement caps the airport at 20 gates permanently, so growth means squeezing more from the same building. A billion-dollar overhaul planned from 2027 will widen concourses, rebuild security and add lounges, aiming for up to 50% more passengers by 2035 without a single new gate.
Hub & base airlines
| Airline | Role | Terminal |
|---|---|---|
| Southwest Airlines | Home base and headquarters, 18 of 20 gates | Main terminal |
Terminals & infrastructure
Everything happens in one terminal: 20 gates, capped permanently by the federal Five Party Agreement that settled the Wright Amendment's repeal, with Southwest holding 18 and the remainder split among Delta and Alaska. The Love Field master plan completed in 2025 routes all future growth through landside and concourse expansion, with major construction planned from 2027, rather than new gates the law forbids.Full specifications
Frequently asked questions
Southwest Airlines dominates with 18 of the 20 gates and its corporate headquarters on the field; Delta and Alaska operate the remaining gates.
A 1979 federal law restricting long-haul flights from Love Field to protect the new Dallas Fort Worth hub. Its full repeal in 2014 let Southwest fly nonstop nationwide from Love Field, transforming the airport's traffic.
The Five Party Agreement that accompanied the Wright Amendment repeal caps the airport at 20 gates permanently, so the planned billion-dollar overhaul grows capacity through bigger concourses, faster security and better gate turns instead.