Fri, Mar 14, 2003
Reagan National Still Held Hostage
The National Air Transportation
Association (NATA) has filed a petition with the Federal
Aviation Administration (FAA) to reopen Ronald Reagan Washington
National Airport (DCA) to non-scheduled air carriers. The airport
has been closed to such operations since the terrorist attacks of
September 11, 2001.
"The closure of Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA)
to all but scheduled flight operations conducted under Part 121 is
creating serious harm for the traveling public and for NATA's
members certificated to operate non-scheduled commercial service
under Part 135 air carrier regulations," stated NATA president
James Coyne. "The closure unfairly, unreasonably and unlawfully
discriminates against an important sector of the aviation industry
-- commercial non-scheduled air carriers. It is time for the
federal government to take action to eliminate this harmful
discriminatory treatment."
No more excuses...
Additionally, NATA states in the petition that the
Transportation Security Administration's (TSA's) "Twelve-Five Rule," which goes into
effect on April 1, will offer a "well-defined and state-of-the-art
regime addressing the security of these aircraft operations. As a
result, no additional barrier preventing this class of operator
from accessing DCA will exist except for the imposition of the
security rules and procedures specific to the airport itself."
"The FAA needs to recognize the
intrinsic right of access to publicly funded airports guaranteed by
the Federal Aviation Act," added Coyne. "For non-scheduled air
carriers to be treated like second-class citizens in inexcusable.
The petition is only the first step in making sure that we get
access to DCA now. This is the only airport with direct and
immediate access to the nation's capital. There is no viable reason
to continue to deny non-scheduled air carriers access to this
airport."
The petition filing is part of a large, coalition-based effort
sponsored by NATA. The coalition, dubbed WECAN (Working for
Equitable Commercial Access to National) is comprised of local
business and elected officials in the Washington, D.C., area who
support fully reopening DCA to non-scheduled commercial air
carriers.
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