7 cool things about Dallas Love Field Airport
While Dallas Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) is bigger and offers more flights, Dallas Love Field Airport (DAL) has a longer and richer history, an impressive list of notable firsts, and some hidden surprises.
DAL also hosts its own podcast. And during a recent two-part episode of Love Field Stories – Conversations on the Fly, I had the honor of chatting with aviation consultant and historian Bruce Bleakley, who shared his insider knowledge about DAL, its role in aviation history and its art collection.
Bleakley is the former director of the Frontiers of Flight Museum, located on the southeast corner of Dallas Love Field, and one of the co-authors of a photo and information-packed book about DAL titled The Love Evolution: A Centennial Celebration of Love Field Airport and Its Art.
Here are seven of the topics we covered and some of the DAL secrets we learned. You can listen to – and watch – Part 1 of our chat here. Part 2 airs May 10).
How did Love Field get that romantic name?
It turns out Dallas Love Field was not named for the emotion love, but for a person named Love.
“The airport was started in World War I as a training field for army aviators,” Bleakley said. “It was the tradition at the time when they established a new flying field to name it after an army aviator who had perished in the line of duty. And the next name on the list was Lieutenant Moss Lee Love, who was from a prominent family in Fairfax, Virginia. And that’s how it came to be named Love Field.”
Today a 79-foot-long glass wall by artist Martin Donlin at the airport includes a portrait of Moss Lee Love based on one of only two known photographs of the aviator.
Dallas Love Field once had an outdoor observation deck
Open air observation decks were once standard amenities at airports. Today they are quite rare. Dallas Love Field had an outdoor observation deck in the late 1950 and early 1960s.
“And that is where a big crowd gathered on July 12, 1959, to watch Lady Bird Johnson press the button to start the first engine for the return trip to New York of the first Boeing 707 flight into Love Field,” Bleakley said. There is no outdoor deck now, “but in the passenger concourse there are large floor to ceiling windows where you can look out on the ramp area and see the planes.”
DAL was the first airport to have a moving walkway
The first moving walkways in an airport were installed at the Dallas Love Field terminal when it opened in 1958. The airport had 32 gates back then and the moving walkways took passengers from the main terminal to the first gates of each of the airport’s three long concourses.
Unfortunately, “they had teething problems with the first walkways, especially with women’s high heels as you got on or off the moving walkway. And sometimes extra-long dress,” said Bleakley, “They had to go back and do some redesigns. And for a time, they had attendants there to make sure everything was going OK.”
There are still moving walkways at DAL, but now they are used by passengers traveling between the terminal and parking garages B and C.
Dallas Love Field had an ice-skating and roller rinks in the terminal
When Dallas Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) opened in 1974 all the major airlines moved out of Love Field and over to DFW airport. “That was part of the agreement they had made,” said Bleakley, and only Southwest, at that time still a small local carrier, and a few commuter carriers were left. “And there really wasn’t much going on in the terminal building. It was a big open space.”
So, for a little over a year, the terminal was leased to a company that turned the space into the Love Entertainment Complex, which had a roller rink, an ice-skating rink, movie theaters, a cabaret, and other amusements.
Love Field played a vital role the day JFK was assassinated
Today, visitors to Dallas often make stops at the Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza and other sites associated with the assassination of President John F. Kennedy on Nov. 22, 1963.
Dallas Love Field also had a role in that tragic, historic day. On that morning Vice-President Lyndon Johnson arrived at Love Field in Air Force Two and, per protocol, was on hand to welcome President Kennedy when he arrived on Air Force One and became the first U.S. president to fly into Love Field.
After JFK’s assassination, Lyndon Johnson boarded Air Force One at Love Field to become the first president sworn in on an airplane, the first president to take the presidential oath in Texas, and the first president to be sworn in by a female judge.
Related: Air Force One’s classic Kennedy-era look may remain under president-elect Biden
Today there is a bronze plaque and a white light embedded in the spot on the DAL tarmac where Air Force once parked that day. A copy of the plaque, which bears the timeline of that day, can be found on a wall inside the terminal on the second level, looking out on the tarmac. The markers were given to the airport by FBI analyst and JFK historian Farris Rookstool III, who as a young boy was at the airport with his parents to greet JFK that day.”
First Love Field Airport artwork had a mistake
Today Dallas Love Field Airport is home to a large and impressive public art collection with many pieces that highlight the history and legacy of the airport. The bulk of the artwork was installed after 2012. But the airport’s first piece of art – a terrazzo world map with metal inlay – was installed in 1957 as the terminal was being built. Look for it in the central terminal lobby and see if you can spot the countries that now have new names and the one American city that was misspelled on the map.
Alexander Calder hung out at Dallas Love Field
In the early 1970s, famed artist Alexander Calder created special liveries for two Braniff International Airways aircraft: a Douglas DC-8 bore Calder’s Flying Colors of South America artwork and a Boeing 727-200 was painted with Calder’s Flying Colors of the United States design.
Related: The art of designing an aircraft livery
Calder did not just create the artwork and send it along. For both projects he was on site at Braniff’s Love Field maintenance facility painting some sections by hand and supervising maintenance crews transferring designs he had painted on large airplane models to the aircraft.
“He brown-bagged his lunch. And stayed out at the hangar all day to make sure it was done the way he wanted it,” said Bleakley. “There was one story that during lunch one day when working on the first plane – the DC8 – all the maintenance guys took their lunch break, so Calder sat down opened up his brown bag and noticed he was seated next to a mechanic’s toolbox.”
Calder had his palette nearby and by the time lunch was over “he had put an abstract design all around the top and sides of this fella’s toolbox,” said Bleakley.
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- Earn 4X Membership Rewards® points per dollar spent at US supermarkets, on up to $25,000 in purchases per calendar year, then 1X points for the rest of the year.
- Earn 3X Membership Rewards® points per dollar spent on flights booked directly with airlines or on AmexTravel.com.
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Rewards Rate
| 4X | Earn 4X Membership Rewards® points per dollar spent on purchases at restaurants worldwide, on up to $50,000 in purchases per calendar year, then 1X points for the rest of the year. |
| 4X | Earn 4X Membership Rewards® points per dollar spent at US supermarkets, on up to $25,000 in purchases per calendar year, then 1X points for the rest of the year. |
| 3X | Earn 3X Membership Rewards® points per dollar spent on flights booked directly with airlines or on AmexTravel.com. |
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You may be eligible for as high as 100,000 Membership Rewards® Points after spending $6,000 in eligible purchases on your new Card in your first 6 months of Membership. Welcome offers vary and you may not be eligible for an offer.As High As 100,000 points. Find Out Your Offer.Annual Fee
$325Recommended Credit
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Why We Chose It
There’s a lot to love about the Amex Gold. It’s a fan favorite thanks to its fantastic bonus-earning rates at restaurants worldwide and at U.S. supermarkets. If you’re hitting the skies soon, you’ll also earn bonus Membership Rewards points on travel. Paired with up to $120 in Uber Cash annually (for U.S. Uber rides or Uber Eats orders, card must be added to Uber app and you can redeem with any Amex card), up to $120 in annual dining statement credits to be used with eligible partners, an up to $84 Dunkin’ credit each year at U.S. Dunkin Donuts and an up to $100 Resy credit annually, there’s no reason that foodies shouldn’t add the Amex Gold to their wallet. These benefits alone are worth more than $400, which offsets the $325 annual fee on the Amex Gold card. Enrollment is required for select benefits. (Partner offer)Pros
- 4 points per dollar spent on dining at restaurants worldwide and U.S. supermarkets (on the first $50,000 in purchases per calendar year; then 1 point per dollar spent thereafter and $25,000 in purchases per calendar year; then 1 point per dollar spent thereafter, respectively)
- 3 points per dollar spent on flights booked directly with the airline or with amextravel.com
- Packed with credits foodies will enjoy
- Solid welcome bonus
Cons
- Not as useful for those living outside the U.S.
- Some may have trouble using Uber and other dining credits
- You may be eligible for as high as 100,000 Membership Rewards® Points after you spend $6,000 in eligible purchases on your new Card in your first 6 months of Card Membership. Welcome offers vary and you may not be eligible for an offer. Apply to know if you’re approved and find out your exact welcome offer amount – all with no credit score impact. If you’re approved and choose to accept the Card, your score may be impacted.
- Earn 4X Membership Rewards® points per dollar spent on purchases at restaurants worldwide, on up to $50,000 in purchases per calendar year, then 1X points for the rest of the year.
- Earn 4X Membership Rewards® points per dollar spent at US supermarkets, on up to $25,000 in purchases per calendar year, then 1X points for the rest of the year.
- Earn 3X Membership Rewards® points per dollar spent on flights booked directly with airlines or on AmexTravel.com.
- Earn 2X Membership Rewards® points per dollar spent on prepaid hotels and other eligible purchases booked on AmexTravel.com.
- Earn 1X Membership Rewards® point per dollar spent on all other eligible purchases.
- $120 Uber Cash on Gold: Add your Gold Card to your Uber account and get $10 in Uber Cash each month to use on orders and rides in the U.S. when you select an American Express Card for your transaction. That’s up to $120 Uber Cash annually. Plus, after using your Uber Cash, use your Card to earn 4X Membership Rewards® points for Uber Eats purchases made with restaurants or U.S. supermarkets. Point caps and terms apply.
- $84 Dunkin' Credit: With the $84 Dunkin' Credit, you can earn up to $7 in monthly statement credits after you enroll and pay with the American Express® Gold Card at U.S. Dunkin' locations. Enrollment is required to receive this benefit.
- $100 Resy Credit: Get up to $100 in statement credits each calendar year after you pay with the American Express® Gold Card to dine at U.S. Resy restaurants or make other eligible Resy purchases. That's up to $50 in statement credits semi-annually. Enrollment required.
- $120 Dining Credit: Satisfy your cravings, sweet or savory, with the $120 Dining Credit. Earn up to $10 in statement credits monthly when you pay with the American Express® Gold Card at Grubhub, The Cheesecake Factory, Goldbelly, Wine.com, and Five Guys. Enrollment required.
- Explore over 1,000 upscale hotels worldwide with The Hotel Collection and receive a $100 credit towards eligible charges* with every booking of two nights or more through AmexTravel.com. *Eligible charges vary by property.
- No Foreign Transaction Fees.
- Annual Fee is $325.
- Terms Apply.