DC-area senators try to stop more flights at Reagan National Airport

A group of Washington area Senate Democrats who oppose adding more longer-distance flights in and out of DC’s Reagan National Airport – which was included in a bipartisan FAA bill released this week – are pressing for an amendment vote to strip it out of the legislation, which is being debated on the floor now. “The proposal flies in the face of known safety concerns and known congestion concerns so we are going to push very hard for this amendment,” said Sen. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland who warned that he and the other local senators may oppose the bill in the end if they don’t get a vote. Virginia Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine argued on the floor that the airport is “pressed to the gills” now as it services 25m passengers a year when he said it should accommodate 15m and simply can’t add any more flights. Van Hollen said the move to increase the slots – five daily round trips to destinations beyond the 1,250-mile perimeter limit out of DCA, is being pushed for the “convenience” of lawmakers because the airport is much closer to the Capitol than either Dulles International Airport in Virginia or Baltimore/Washington International Airport in Maryland. Van Hollen and Kaine are joined by Maryland Sen. Ben Cardin and Virginia Sen. Mark Warner, a group with considerable longevity in the chamber and political clout. Cardin was asked if members are pushing for more flights, so they don’t have to go all the way to Dulles or BWI but declined to directly engage on his colleagues’ motives. “To me, it’s a safety issue,” he said. “There should not be additional slots.” Republican Sen. John Cornyn of Texas pushed back on the Democrats and said they were cloaking their arguments in safety but were really trying to protect regional interests by keeping the public, including lawmakers, flying out of Dulles and BWI.<br/>