American Airlines will cut some flights out of its largest hub, Dallas/Forth Worth, as it shifts others to nearby Love Field to take on rival Southwest Airlines, a senior American executive said.

American has long argued that shifting some of its flights to Southwest stronghold Love Field near downtown Dallas would weaken larger DFW, which is further from the city and force it to cut some destinations.

Southwest has been restricted to flying to nearby states from Love Field under the law, known as the Wright Amendment, which was created in 1979 to protect then-fledgling DFW airport.

But Southwest, which has been campaigning to repeal the entire Wright Amendment, claimed a partial victory last month when Congress voted to let it fly to Missouri from Love Field for the first time.

Southwest on Tuesday began flying to St. Louis and Kansas City, Missouri, from Love Field.

American, a longtime Wright proponent, responded by saying it would shift Missouri flights to Love Field, which is more convenient for many Dallas area residents. On Tuesday the airline announced those flights would start on March 2.

Partly as a result, American plans to end service from DFW to six cities, including Lima, Peru; Providence, Rhode Island; and Green Bay, Wisconsin; Dan Garton, American's Executive Vice President of marketing, said in a interview.

He acknowledged that the cuts, to be implemented starting in February, were in part because of weak economics, but said the need to shift flights to Love Field had played a part.

"You take one of those routes, it was probably a challenging route to begin with and we just look at the restructuring and the loss of the other flights as the straw that's going to break that camel's back," Garton said.

He said that American could also consider adding additional destinations from Love Field beyond its initial list of St. Louis and Kansas City and the Texas cities of San Antonio and Austin.

He acknowledged that American has a "general disadvantage" to Southwest "because of their financial strength."

But he said American would lure customers to Love Field thanks to its frequent flyer program and route network.

He also said American was "committed" to fighting Southwest's bid to repeal the Wright Amendment altogether.

Southwest spokesman Ed Steward said, "It's just another competitor at Love Field. For us it's still business as usual. We think at the end of the day our service will prevail."