CORRECT: Senate Approves Plan To Add Flights At Reagan National
February 17 2011 - 2:47PM
Dow Jones News
The U.S. Senate approved a measure Thursday, backed by major
airlines, to loosen longstanding restrictions on nonstop flights
between the West Coast and northern Virginia's Reagan National
Airport.
The measure, approved by a voice vote, would allow such major
airlines as US Airways Group Inc. (LCC), Delta Air Lines Inc. (DAL)
and AMR Corp.'s (AMR) American Airlines to vie for new, potentially
lucrative flights between Reagan National and such cities as San
Francisco, Los Angeles and San Diego. The measure would add 16
round-trip, long-distance flights at Reagan National, to be
apportioned at a later date, said an aide to a Republican senator
who helped broker the deal.
The measure was attached to a bill to authorize the Federal
Aviation Administration, which still requires a vote of the Senate
and House. Resolving the Reagan National debate was viewed as the
main obstacle to approval of the broader bill, which could happen
later this week.
The amendment followed weeks of negotiations and an intense
lobbying battle between US Airways and rival United Continental
Holdings Inc.'s (UAL) United Airlines, which feared that new
flights at Reagan could cut into United's business at Dulles
International Airport, also in northern Virginia but 26 miles to
the west.
United ultimately signed onto a deal drafted by Sens. Kay Bailey
Hutchison (R., Texas) and Jay Rockefeller (D., W.Va.) to increase
the number of flights that are allowed to destinations beyond a
1,250-mile perimeter around Reagan National.
The perimeter, established by Congress in the 1980s, was
designed largely to ensure that nearby Dulles International Airport
in northern Virginia would become the main destination for
long-distance flights arriving near the nation's capital. Both
airports are operated by the Metropolitan Washington Airports
Authority under a long-term lease from the federal government.
Arizona-based US Airways, the No. 5 U.S. carrier by traffic and
the dominant carrier at Reagan National, has led the charge for
loosening the restrictions, a move that would permit lucrative new
flights to the West Coast. No. 1 United, based in Chicago, has
resisted loosening the restrictions because it wants to protect
business at its hub at Dulles.
The airlines gave their approval to the Hutchison-Rockefeller
proposal, airline representatives said.
Hutchison and Rockefeller overcame the resistance of lawmakers
from states that could be directly affected by the change. They
include Sen. Maria Cantwell (D., Wash.), whose state is home to
Alaska Air Group Inc.'s (ALK) Alaska Airlines, and Sen. Mark Warner
(D., Va.). Cantwell sought to ensure that smaller airlines such as
Alaska Airlines have a fair shake at gaining any new offerings at
Reagan National, and Warner had voiced concerns about the impact on
jobs and the economy at Dulles were the Reagan National
restrictions loosened.
-By Josh Mitchell, Dow Jones Newswires; 202-862-6637;
joshua.mitchell@dowjones.com
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