American plans growth at Washington National

American Airlines plans to grow with larger aircraft at Ronald Reagan Washington National once a new concourse opens in 3 years. The carrier will operate more flights from National on larger regional aircraft popular with travellers when the under construction 14-gate regional pier opens in 2021, said American president Robert Isom. "Today we have 14 gates that are restricted to 50-seat regional jets, when we get to the new regional terminal opening out into 2021, that will allow those 14 gates to handle up to 76 seaters," he said. Isom refers to the 14 remote aircraft parking positions served by buses from gate 35X, which itself is despised by travellers. While those positions are not actually "restricted" to the small planes and do handle larger regional aircraft, such operations are uncommon. <br/>