Senator Warnock Dismisses Safety Concerns Over Adding More Flights to Washington

Georgia’s Democratic Senator Raphael Warnock dismissed safety concerns from local lawmakers about additional flights to Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in an interview with Bloomberg Television on Wednesday. “We respect them, and I have affection for my colleagues in Maryland and Virginia, but they are wrong on this issue. To put it bluntly, they are just wrong,” Warnock said in an interview with Bloomberg’s Kailey Leinz. Warnock, whose state includes the corporate headquarters of Delta Airlines, backs the effort to allow for five additional round-trip flights from the airport as part of a proposed 5-year reauthorization of the Federal Aviation Administration. He said he “remains hopeful” that Congress can get the bill over the finish line by May 10 when the agency’s current funding expires. Fellow Democratic senators from the states neighboring Washington have long opposed any additional flights, arguing they would worsen delays, increase noise pollution and jeopardize safety. Last month, Virginia Senators Mark Warner and Tim Kaine cited an instance at the airport in which two planes narrowly avoided collision on a runway. But Warnock dismissed their concerns. “This will not compromise safety in any way, and we have addressed this issue with the FAA,” Warnock countered, adding that the proposal would only add 1% more to the daily operations of the airport.<br/>