ARLINGTON, Va. — It's official, the Senate has voted to approve a controversial bill that would bring more flights in and out of DCA.
Under a provision in the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Reauthorization Act, five incoming and five outgoing flights would be added to Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.
Advocates of the bill say it'll increase options and reduce fares. Those who oppose it, including many local lawmakers, say this would risk passenger safety and cause further delays at the already overburdened airport. Many lawmakers cite a recent near-miss at the airport between two planes as a prime example of why this would be a big mistake.
The bill was put to a vote on Thursday in the Senate, and it passed.
Senators Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine released a statement following the vote calling out the Senate for disregarding passenger safety. It reads;
“The Senate abdicated its responsibility to protect the safety of the 25 million people who fly through DCA every year. Just weeks after two aircraft nearly crashed into one another at DCA, this body refused to take up our commonsense amendment to remove a dangerous provision that would have crammed more flights onto the busiest runway in America. We even offered a compromise: another amendment that would have given the Secretary of Transportation the power to settle this matter after considering the implications more flights would have on delays and passenger safety. But some of our colleagues were too afraid to let the experts make the call. They didn’t want to show the American people that they care more about a few lawmakers’ desire for direct flights than they care about the safety and convenience of the traveling public. That is shameful and an embarrassment.”
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. That process is expected to be time-consuming.
The additional flights are just a sliver of what the FAA Reauthorization Act entails.
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