The Battle to Halt New Flights at Lawmakers’ Preferred Airport
New revelations from an unusual alliance shed light on the intense battle to block more flights at lawmakers’ favored Reagan National Airport. United Airlines collaborated with local authorities and Virginia lawmakers to resist additional flights, citing safety concerns and congestion issues. The battle involves significant lobbying efforts and debates over airport regulations and safety measures.
New correspondence between an unconventional group of allies is shedding light on the high-stakes fight to prevent more flights at lawmakers’ favorite airport.
Over the course of the last year, United Airlines lobbyists worked with Washington, D.C.’s local airport authority as well as staff to Virginia lawmakers to coordinate strategy and messaging in a bid to keep Congress from approving additional flights at Reagan National Airport, one of the busiest travel hubs in the country.
Emails obtained via public records request from a rival group looking to expand the number of slots at the airport, known as DCA, give a rare, behind-the-scenes look at the lobbying effort as lawmakers consider a major aviation bill this week. The legislation includes a provision that allows DCA to have five more round-trip flights beyond the airport’s perimeter rule, which currently limits the number that travel more than 1,250 miles from Washington. Both Reagan and Dulles International Airport are owned by the federal government, which means Congress can decide how they operate.
According to the emails, United Airlines’s lobbying team sought help in crafting talking points and drafting messages as it attempted to persuade stakeholders against allowing more slots. It corresponded with staffers for Sens. Mark Warner (D-VA) and Tim Kaine (D-VA) and officials from the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority, which manages operations at DCA and Dulles.
The group continues to make the point that the airport is too small to accommodate additional air service and that more flights would put passenger safety at risk. Nick Barbash, an aide to Kaine, wrote that making the point about security issues would resonate with fellow members of the Commerce Committee in an email on May 19.
When reached for comment, Kaine’s office highlighted a near-collision between a Southwest Airlines flight and a JetBlue flight at DCA in mid-April, arguing more traffic at the airport is a major safety risk.
“Sen. Kaine’s top priority is passenger safety and avoiding deadly disasters like the one that almost occurred earlier this month when two aircraft came within 300 feet of crashing,” a spokeswoman said.
On the other side of the battle is the Capital Access Alliance, a coalition of business groups and Delta Air Lines, which had initially proposed that lawmakers alter the perimeter requirements at DCA by arguing the regulations are outdated and hurt the economy.
About a year ago, the coalition released a study by Boston Consulting Group that found the addition of long-haul flights could benefit all airlines equally. It also estimated that expanding the number of flights at Reagan could reduce ticket prices for passengers and contribute millions in economic growth, benefitting state coffers at the federal and state levels.
In an example of the United coordination, lobbyist Theresa Fariello asked staff with MWAA in an email from May of last year when the group would have a rebuttal to the Boston Consulting Group study.
“I think it’s super important to start rebutting that study,” Fariello wrote.
Toward the end of May, Warner’s staff emailed MWAA and a top United executive, letting them know about a new FAA memo coming that ultimately would find “20 more daily roundtrip operations would increase delays by 25.9% and an increase of 25 daily roundtrip operations would increase delays by 33.2% at DCA.”
In a different email, Warner’s legislative counsel mentioned that their office provided the FAA memo “in Punchbowl this morning” but said they would not be posting the memo on the senator’s website because “we wanted to keep our fingerprints off the release of the doc.”
Warner’s office maintains it has nothing to hide and that the emails revealed “no secrets.”
“Senator Warner’s top priority has been and remains safety and reliability at DCA, which is why he has been so consistent – in public and in private – in making the case to his colleagues and the flying public that adding even more flights to an overburdened runway should be a dangerous non-starter,” a spokeswoman for the senator said in an email.
Rob Yingling, a spokesman for the MWAA, did not comment on the emails but in a statement made the case against adding additional long-haul flights.
“Reagan National Airport operates at or near capacity for much of the day. Legislating more flights into its already congested schedule would exacerbate delays, crowding and stress on airport infrastructure,” he said.
The messaging strategy comes as groups affiliated with United contributed $44,337 to Kaine’s reelection campaign this cycle. The Virginia senator has received more campaign contributions from United than any other lawmaker, with the exception of Commerce Chairwoman Maria Cantwell (D-WA), who received $641 more. The United Airlines PAC gave Kaine $8,000 days after he sent out a letter urging colleagues to reject changes to the slot and perimeter rules. Warner is not up for reelection this cycle but over the course of his career in the Senate has received $57,340 in campaign contributions from groups affiliated with United.
Affiliates of Delta Airlines also have been contributing to candidates that support their side, such as Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), the ranking member of the Commerce Committee. Cruz, who has been outspoken about the need to expand the perimeter, received $34,179 this cycle from groups linked to Delta. Cantwell received the most in campaign contributions from Delta this cycle at $44,515.
Leslie Scott, a United spokeswoman, said the company is “proud to work closely with anyone who shares the commonsense understanding that shoehorning additional flights into America’s busiest runway has the potential to put safety at risk.”
“We don’t see anything wrong with engaging with our network of stakeholders who are aligned in supporting safety above the ill-conceived demands of those wishing to put their own financial gains first,” she added.
Commerce Committee staff working with Cruz slammed the strategic coordination between MWAA and United Airlines and have continued to make the case that airlines that have been opposed to the expansion are doing so to protect their own business interests. United Airlines has a major hub at Dulles, and American Airlines has a hub at Reagan National.
“As Sen. Cruz has said previously, ‘MWAA is not United Airlines’ corporate lobbyist, nor should it be.’ Sen. Cruz’s committee probe from last year foreshadowed that MWAA and United Airlines were working together in attempts to extort millions of dollars in fees from airlines that might obtain new flights at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA) and effectively transfer such proceeds to United,” a spokesman for the committee said in a statement provided to the Washington Examiner.
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“It is not the least bit surprising that MWAA and United are teaming up once again to stoke fears citing bogus, unsubstantiated safety concerns, which even the former FAA administrator himself said were ‘not accurate,’” the spokesman added.
The new lobbying details add a new wrinkle to one of Congress’s final must-pass agenda items ahead of the election. The Maryland and Virginia congressional delegations are working to add an amendment to strip the five flights from the larger bill. Under the current timeline, all 100 senators must come to an agreement to fast-track the legislation in order to finish the FAA reauthorization before the May 10 deadline.
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