Dallas - Fort Worth Shootout - By E.J. Gong Jr.
       In the old West, cowboys duked it out with six-shooters and
 nerves of steel. These days, longtime civic rivals Dalls and Fort
 Worth are fighting a Texas-sized brawl with lawsuits and media
 blitzes.
       The issue isn't cows, prairies or oil.  It's a thing called
 love - Love Field, a small airport a few miles from downtown Dallas.
 And depending on how it's resolved, it could affect the local econ-
 omies of both cities, test the financial well-being of Fort Worth
 titan American Airlines and determine whether business travelers
 flying out of the area save millions in airfare.
      To understand the feud, you've got to go back in time. Since
 settler days, there's been an uneasy relationship between these two
 cities.
     Dallas duped Forth Worth in 1875, when Dallas politicians made
 sure the Pacific Railroad came through Dallas first.  They also
 steered new arrivals from Fort Worth by telling them it was Indian
 territory. Fort Worth lured visitors away from Dallas during the
 state's 1936 centennial celebration by bringing in showman Billy
 Rose and fandancer Sally Rand for entertainment.
                  Protection for Dallas/Fort Worth
     The most recent flap began almost 30 years ago. In 1968, Dallas
 and Fort Worth agreed to jointly build and operate the Dallas/Fort
 Worth International Airport, which they hoped would pump economic
 life into the region. Both cities agreed to protect the airport from
 competition.
      Even amid the cooperation, there was tension. While Fort Worth
 closed its smaller municipal airport, Dallas kept theirs - Love
 Field - open. It's now home to cut-rate Southwest Airlines and an
 upstart called Legend Air.
      Today, D/FW, which is dead center between the two cities, is
 the second busiest airport in the country, generating about $10 bil-
 lion worth of business in the region. More than 165,000 jobs are
 tied to airport operations. Some say it will become the busiest air-
 port in the world in a decade, ahead of Chicago's O'Hare.
            If things are going so well, what's the problem?
                            Love Squabble
     In October, after intensive lobbying from Legend Air, Congress
 decreed that additional flights could originate from Love Field. The
 move instantly angered Fort Worth and especially Fort Worth-based
 American Airlines, which dominates service at D/FW. The day after
 Congress made the change, Fort Worth filed a lawsuit against Dallas,
 saying the city had failed to uphold the terms it signed in 1968 for
 D/FW bonds.
     Dallas countersued, saying the situation is out of its hands. It
 alleges the federal government, which controls airport policy, calls
 the shots. But Dallas certainly stands to benefit from increased
 traffic at Love Field. It will produce more jobs and likely enrich
 the poverty-stricken area around the airport.
     American Airlines contends the new competition out of Love Field
 will force it to move flights from D/FW, and could potentially lead
 to the international airport's downfall as a major hub. It warns it
 will hurt the local economy and limit flying options available to the
 area's many business travelers.
     Meanwhile, startup Legend Air hopes to tap into the business
 traveler market with its new flights from Love Field.
                             Judge Weighs In
   Last month, U.S. District Court Judge John McBryde issued an order
 asking officials from both cities to sit down and iron out their
 differences. Both sides say they want to resolve it themselves, but
 there's a lot of ill-will and a lot of bad history to get beyond.
    Dallas and Fort Worth have until Dec. 12 to respond to the federal
 judge's request. If they fail to meet the deadline, people familiar
 with the case say McBryde won't hesitate to settle it for them.
                             The Players
 Dallas - Expand Love Field
 "Fort Worth wants us to overrule an act of Congress. That's just
 absurd. The only adverse impact of Love Field is on American's
 bottomline." - Dallas City Council member Bob Stimson
 Fort Worth - Limit Love Field
 "Here in Texas, we pride ourselves on a deal is a deal. We have a
 deal! We don't want DFW damaged and Dallas is supposed to help pro-
 tect it." - Fort Worth Mayor Kenneth Barr
 American Airlines - Limit Love Field
 "Why do you want to maim the golden goose? Big companies might not
 locate here if you lose a bustling airport.This thing drives the
 economy here," - Company spokeswoman Andrea Rader
 Legend Air - Expand Love Field
 "The market is big enough to have multiple airports. American is up-
 set because they're losing their stranglehold and won't be able to
 milk business travelers anymore," - Legend Air founder Allan McArtor
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