Dallas Love Field

Dallas Love Field
DALKDAL

Dallas Love Field

Dallas, United States · North America
North America America/Chicago IVCA 45.7
83direct destinations
3airlines
2runways
2,682 mLongest runway
1,597Aircraft documented
1914opened

Dallas Love Field (IATA: DAL, ICAO: KDAL, FAA LID: DAL) is a city-owned public airport in the neighborhood of Love Field, about 6 miles (10 km; 5 nmi) northwest of downtown Dallas, Texas, United States. It was Dallas' main airport until 1974 when Dallas Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) opened. Love Field covers an area of 1,300 acres (530 ha) at an elevation of 487 feet (148 m) above mean sea level and has two runways. Love Field is the birthplace, corporate headquarters, and a major operating base of Southwest Airlines; as of August 2021, Southwest has a 95% market share at the airport. Several full-service fixed-base operators (FBOs) provide general aviation services: fuel, maintenance, hangar rentals, and air charters. The City of Dallas Department of Aviation headquarters is on the airport grounds.

Location

Mapa

32.845°N, 96.848°O · 148 m s. n. m. (487 ft)

General data

CountryUnited States
CityDallas
Coordinates32.845°N, 96.848°O
Elevation148 m s. n. m. (487 ft)
Time zoneAmerica/Chicago
Longest runway2,682 m
Opened1914
Direct destinations83

Runways · 2

13R/31L
Length2,682 m8,799 ft
Width46 m151 ft
SurfaceConcrete
Lighted✓
13L/31R
Length2,363 m7,753 ft
Width46 m151 ft
SurfaceConcrete
Lighted✓

Lengths and surfaces from the public OurAirports register; open runways only.

Radio frequencies · 7

Tower

118.700LOVE TWR

Ground

121.750

Clearance delivery

127.900CLNC DEL

ATIS (automatic information)

120.150

Approach

124.300RGNL APP

Departure

118.550RGNL DEP

UNICOM

122.950UNICOM
Look for a live feed on LiveATC External site; not every airport has a feed.

Reference frequencies for enthusiasts, from OurAirports (community database, public domain), checked on Oct 16, 2026. They may be outdated or incomplete and do not replace the AIP or current charts: not for navigation. In Europe the published frequency may be an 8.33 kHz channel (e.g., 118.505 for 118.500). In MHz.

History

Dallas Love Field is named after Moss L. Love, who, while assigned to the U.S. Army 11th Cavalry, died in an airplane crash near San Diego, California, on September 4, 1913, becoming the tenth fatality in U.S. Army aviation history. His Wright Model C biplane crashed during practice for his Military Aviator Test. Love Field was named by the United States Army on October 19, 1917. Dallas Love Field originated in 1917 when the Army announced it would establish a series of camps to train prospective pilots after the United States entered into World War I. The airfield was one of 32 new Air Service fields. It was constructed just southeast of Bachman Lake, and it covered over 700 acres and could accommodate up to 1,000 personnel. Dozens of wooden buildings served as headquarters, maintenance, and officers' quarters. Enlisted men had to bivouac in tents. Love Field served as a base for flight training for the United States Army Air Service. In 1917, flight training occurred in two phases: primary and advanced. Primary training took eight weeks and consisted of pilots learning basic flight skills under dual and solo instruction. After completing their primary training at Love Field, flight cadets were transferred to another base for advanced training. After officially opening on October 19, 1917, the first unit stationed at Love Field was the 136th Aero Squadron, transferred from Kelly Field, south of San Antonio, Texas. Only a few U.S. Army Air Service aircraft arrived with the 136th Aero Squadron, and most of the Curtiss JN-4 Jenny aircraft to be used for flight training were shipped in wooden crates by railcar. Training units assigned to Love Field during World War I were: Post Headquarters, Love Field, October 1917 – December 1919 71st Aero Squadron (II), February 1918 Re-designated as Squadron "A", July–November 1918 121st Aero Squadron (II), April 1918 Re-designated as Squadron "B", July–November 1918 136th Aero Squadron (II), November 1917 Re-designated as Squadron "C", July–November 1918 197th Aero Squadron, November 1917 Re-designated as Squadron "D", July–November 1918 Flying School Detachment (Consolidation of Squadrons A-D), November 1918 – November 1919 The 865th Aero Squadron (Repair) was formed at Love Field in March 1918 as a JN-4 aircraft repair and maintenance support unit. It was assigned to the Aviation Repair Depot, Dallas, Texas (at Love Field), in April 1918 and demobilized in March 1919. With the sudden end of World War I in November 1918, the future operational status of Love Field was unknown. Many local officials speculated the U.S. government would keep the field open because of the outstanding combat record established by Love-trained pilots in Europe. Locals also pointed to the optimal weather conditions in the Dallas area for flight training. On November 11, 1918, cadets in flight training were allowed to complete their training; however, no new cadets were assigned to the base. The separate training squadrons were consolidated into a single Flying School detachment, as many of the personnel assigned were being demobilized. In December 1919, Love Field was deactivated as an active duty airfield and converted into a storage facility for surplus De Havilland and JN-4 aircraft, some of the latter having been repurchased by the Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company in the spring of 1919. In what was called "the largest recruiting mission in the spring and summer of 1919", Lt. Col. Henry B. Clagett began with seven DH-4s departing Dallas and flying as far as Boston. A small caretaker unit was assigned to the facility for administrative reasons, and it was used intermittently to support small military units. In January 1921, 1st Lt William D. Coney attempted to fly from San Diego to Jacksonville with just one stop—at Love Field.

What flies here

From our own logbook: 1,597 aircraft documented between 2006 and 2025.

1,597Aircraft documented
2,094,219Movements recorded
2006–2025Years on record

Types seen here

Airlines with documented aircraft

Busiest routes from here

A count of our own aircraft profiles, year by year, from the public United States flight records: it reflects what we have documented, not the airport’s total traffic.

Airlines operating here · 3

Airlines using it as a main base (hub)

Other airlines with direct routes

Airlines with current passenger routes from here, according to Wikipedia route tables cross-checked from both ends (October 2026).

Photo: Danazar · CC BY-SA 3.0 · view original

Data from OurAirports (public domain) · destinations and airlines from Wikipedia route tables (CC BY-SA, 2026), unless another source is given · profile and photo from Wikidata/Wikimedia Commons (CC0 / CC) · summary and history from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA).

Cite

To cite this page in academic work, an article or Wikipedia, choose the style and copy the reference. The access date is today.

This page was last updated on October 15, 2026

APA

Vuelopedia. (2026, October 15). Dallas Love Field (DAL). Retrieved October 16, 2026, from https://vuelopedia.org/en/airport/DAL

MLA

“Dallas Love Field (DAL).” Vuelopedia, Fundación Poderia, 15 Oct. 2026, vuelopedia.org/en/airport/DAL. Accessed 16 Oct. 2026.

Chicago

Vuelopedia. “Dallas Love Field (DAL).” Fundación Poderia. Last modified October 15, 2026. https://vuelopedia.org/en/airport/DAL.

Harvard

Vuelopedia (2026) Dallas Love Field (DAL). Available at: https://vuelopedia.org/en/airport/DAL (Accessed: 16 October 2026).

BibTeX

@misc{vuelopedia_en_airport_dal,
  author       = {{Vuelopedia}},
  title        = {{Dallas Love Field (DAL)}},
  publisher    = {Fundación Poderia},
  year         = {2026},
  date         = {2026-10-15},
  url          = {https://vuelopedia.org/en/airport/DAL},
  howpublished = {\url{https://vuelopedia.org/en/airport/DAL}},
  urldate      = {2026-10-16},
  note         = {Accessed 2026-10-16}
}

Wikipedia

{{cite web |url=https://vuelopedia.org/en/airport/DAL |title=Dallas Love Field (DAL) |website=Vuelopedia |publisher=Fundación Poderia |date=2026-10-15 |access-date=2026-10-16 |language=en}}