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Love Field is an airport in Dallas, Texas with the IATA Airport Code DAL. Love Field was the primary airport for Dallas until 1974 when Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport opened. Love Field is now Dallas' secondary airport and is primarily served by one airline, Southwest Airlines.
Love Field was opened on October 19, 1917. It was named after First Lieutenant Moss Lee Love, who died in an airplane crash in San Diego, California. Love Field was opened to civilian use in 1927.
When the cities of Dallas and Fort Worth agreed to build Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport (DFW International) in the late 1960s, it was agreed that each city would decommission their own passenger-service airports. However, Dallas' Love Field was a busier airport than Fort Worth's and in a more desirable location, and so several entrepreneurs saw opportunities for keeping it open, most notably Southwest Airlines.
Southwest Airlines was founded in 1971 and is headquartered at Love Field. Southwest built its business on selling quick, no-frills trips between Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio. The notion of a quick trip would be destroyed by a long drive to the new large airport beyond the suburbs. Therefore, prior to the opening of DFW International Airport, Southwest Airlines appealed to the courts to keep Love Field open so it could remain there.
In 1973, the courts granted Southwest the right to continue to operate intrastate service out of Love Field, thus saving the airport from being decommissioned. Fearing that other airlines would operate out of Love Field, DFW International Airport stipulated that no airline could operate at the new airport if it continued to operate any flights out of Love Field. All other airlines complied, but Southwest was happy to remain at the older airport with its location within the city limits of Dallas. Therefore, when the new airport opened in 1974, Southwest Airlines was the only airline remaining at Love Field. With the drastic reduction in flights, Love Field had to decommission several of its terminals. However, over the following years Southwest's business flourished and general aviation and cargo business increased.
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