Reagan National Airport [DCA] is at capacity, but this hasn’t stopped a Delta-backed group from recklessly pushing for more flights, despite the evidence and despite opposition from aviation experts, the local airport authority, and hundreds of other businesses, airports, and local officials from across the country.
Now that members of Congress are back in Washington, CPARA is fact checking the false and misleading claims that are being used by this group to push for more flights at DCA – including the incorrect argument that DCA is “underutilized.” As the experts have made clear, DCA is at capacity and Delta’s “DCA Delay” bill will bring the airport to a standstill.
FACT CHECK #5: MWAA, the local airport authority and expert, makes it clear that DCA is at capacity
The Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority [MWAA] was created by Congress to operate DCA and has the data, experience, and expertise to operate DCA safely for passengers. MWAA has made it abundantly clear that DCA is at capacity, already serving millions of more passengers than it was designed to handle.[1] Recklessly pushing for more flights at DCA increases safety concerns and contradicts the local authority that knows the airport best.
- Jack Potter, CEO of MWAA, has said, “DCA operates at full capacity, with a takeoff or landing every minute, for much of the day. Adding more flights to this already-packed schedule would lead to more delays, which would result from the need to accommodate the spacing between aircraft operations that is required to assure safety. How can anyone credibly say that Washington’s smallest airport, with the busiest runway in America, is underutilized?”
- DCA is at capacity on the air, on the ground, in the terminal, on the runway, and at parking lots. In 2022, parking was more than 90% full on 132 days, with customers sometimes turned away.
- DCA’s runway is America’s busiest, and pilots often refer to it as one of the nation’s most challenging places to land.
- DCA has no room to grow – its location between busy residential and commercial neighborhoods and the Potomac River leaves no room for expansion. While recent renovations replaced outdoor boarding areas and created new security checkpoints, they did not create additional ground or air capacity.
“Reagan National already serves 9 million more passengers per year than it was designed to accommodate, including more passengers than Dulles or BWI, and in a fraction of the space. The local airport authority has made it perfectly clear that more flights will mean more disruptions to travel, but Delta just won’t listen as it pushes for more cancellations, delays, and congestion for passengers.” – CPARA
Make sure to catch the rest of the fact checks in this series, where we provide accurate information about the busiest runway in America, the importance of prioritizing passenger safety, the frequent flight cancellations at DCA, and the inevitable increase in delays that would result from additional flights.
[1] All figures cited about DCA were provided by the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority.
