WASHINGTON — We are a step closer to getting an answer about 10 hotly debated flights that could be added going in and out of Reagan National Airport.
Advocates say it'll increase options and reduce fares. Many of our local elected officials, however, are firmly against it and one of them Wednesday night took that fight to the floor of the Senate.
"The near miss two weeks ago is a warning light," said Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA) pointing to a chart highlighting a recent close call on America's busiest runway, Runway 1/19 at DCA. "Those who are charged with operating these airports every day are saying don't do this! They're essentially saying the same thing, that this air traffic controller was saying. 'Stop. Stop!'"
Kaine addressed colleagues on the floor just moments after the Senate overwhelmingly voted (89-10) to advance debate on the FAA reauthorization Act. The bill is a sweeping, thousand-plus-page proposed law to advance safety and modernization for American airspace.
Just a sliver of the bill includes the additional flights at DCA, something local airport leaders and the FAA are warning against including Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg Tuesday during a House Appropriations Committee meeting when asked about the proposal by Rep Ben Cline (R-VA)
"We would be concerned about the pressure that could put on the system," said Secretary Buttigieg.
Coupled with the concerns from the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA) and the FAA, Kaine is making the case that Congress should listen.
"They're telling us this should not be done," said Kaine. "And if it's done, you increase the risk of something bad happening. We should listen."
Virginia Senator Mark Warner is also highlighting the safety concerns and potential for increased flight delays.
"You know, Congress ought not to be sticking its nose in this," Warner said. "Historically as you look at slots that have been added, oftentimes it's been added or pushed forward by Senators who then end up benefitting from some of those additional slots."
The bill could be voted on in the Senate as early as Thursday. Senators Kaine and Warner plan to introduce an amendment that would eliminate those extra flights from the bill. If that doesn't work, however, there's still another opportunity.
The House already passed its FAA bill but that version does not include the extra flights in and out of Reagan. If both chambers don't pass identical bills, members from both bodies meet in what's called a conference committee to iron out those differences. But that process consumes valuable time. The deadline to get this bill signed by President Biden is a week from Friday.
This week the Federal Aviation Administration opened an investigation into the latest "near miss" on Reagan National Airport (DCA)'s runways.
By now you may have heard the frantic audio of air traffic controllers watching what played out on the runway. A Southwest Airlines flight was cleared to taxi across a runway where a JetBlue flight had started its take-off.
“Thank goodness no accident occurred,” Henry Harteveldt, an airline industry analyst said.
Harteveldt gave some insight into the initial FAA investigation into the near miss. He said a central part of their focus will be on the communication between air traffic control crews.
“The JetBlue flight was on the runway, was given clearance to take off by the control tower,” Harteveldt explained. “The ground control gave the Southwest airplane permission to taxi, not realizing it would put that plane into conflict [with JetBlue].”
Harteveldt pointed out a near miss like this happened at DCA more than a year ago. He said it highlights the age of the airport and some of its runways, which were built in the 1930s.
“The way airports were designed then were very different than now,” he said. “Today airports are designed so their runways don’t intersect.”
“The problem is the main runway at DCA is the busiest runway in the United States,” Virginia Senator Tim Kaine said.
Despite that, Kaine explained, some members of Congress have advocated for adding more flights to Reagan when the FAA Reauthorization vote takes place this May.
“[Thursday] demonstrated there’s already a significant problem with congestion and delays at DCA,” he said. “That then verges into potential problems with safety.”