WASHINGTON -- Users of Reagan National Airport here will soon have additional options for long-haul travel under a congressional plan that will allow for eight daily flights to points beyond the airport's traditional mileage perimeter.
With a few exceptions, flights at the airport are limited to points within a 1,250-mile radius, but in the latest FAA authorization act, Congress approved eight additional daily flights beyond that range: four by large incumbent carriers and four by new entrant or "limited incumbent" airlines that have fewer than 40 slots.
The four incumbents get to choose their long-haul routes by reallocating one of their existing take-off or landing slots.
United chose to give up a daily flight to its Chicago O'Hare hub to launch a daily nonstop to San Francisco on May 14.
Delta will follow with a daily flight to Salt Lake City on June 7, giving up one daily flight to New York LaGuardia.
American is giving up a flight to its Dallas hub in favor of a Los Angeles nonstop on June 14.
US Airways is also eligible to add a long-haul flight but has not yet named a destination.
The remaining four flights for new entrants are to be accommodated by the creation of new slots to be doled out to interested applicants by the Transportation Department (DOT). Seven carriers applied.
Four slots, seven applicants
Because Congress specifically stated that the new entrants or limited incumbents could be "U.S. or Canadian" airlines, Air Canada jumped at the chance.
Air Canada is the only foreign airline operating at Reagan National, with routes to Montreal, Ottawa and Toronto, but it said it has been limited in its ability to expand because of the mileage perimeter and the scarcity of slots.
It noted that Vancouver is the largest point in Canada that lacks nonstop service to the Washington area.
Consistent with the legal requirement that service be operated with narrowbody aircraft, the carrier proposed to use 120-passenger A319 aircraft if allowed to launch the Vancouver route.
The six U.S. applicants were as follows:
• Alaska asked for half of the slots, proposing one daily roundtrip to Portland, Ore., and one to San Diego, both operated with 737-800 aircraft seating 157 passengers.
Alaska said the San Diego flight would originate and terminate at Honolulu, giving Reagan a one-stop service to Hawaii. The carrier also noted that San Diego is the largest market beyond the airport's traditional perimeter that lacks nonstop service.
• Frontier proposed a daily nonstop to Colorado Springs, which it recently established as a new focus city. From there Frontier offers service to six other points in the West.
The Washington flight, operated with 168-passenger A320s, would continue to San Diego, offering a one-stop transcon service and giving Colorado Springs a total of eight nonstop routes.
• JetBlue asked for half the slots for two routes: a daily roundtrip to Austin, Texas, and a daily roundtrip to San Juan, with a connection to St. Thomas.
The San Juan flight, which would give Reagan National its first service to the Caribbean, would be operated with A320s configured for 168 passengers.
The Austin service would operate with 100-passenger Embraer 190 regional jets. In support of Austin, the carrier claimed that United operates a monopoly nonstop from its Washington Dulles hub.
• Southwest also filed for Austin, branding United's existing service from Dulles as "overpriced" and saying it would dramatically reduce fares. Southwest's single daily flight would be operated with new 737-800 aircraft seating 175 passengers, when they become available, and would continue on a one-stop basis to San Diego.
• Sun Country proposed a daily service to Las Vegas using 737-700 aircraft seating 129. The leisure airline, which offers a mix of scheduled and charter service, said it has been successfully serving Las Vegas for nearly 30 years and has provided a successful service with its only other Washington slot, which is used on a route to Lansing, Mich.
• Virgin America asked for one route to its San Francisco base but asked for half the slots so that it could operate two daily flights. The carrier would deploy A319 aircraft with 119 seats on the route, calling it a "right-sized" aircraft for the market.
JetBlue says Calif. 'short-changed'
JetBlue said California has been "shortchanged" in other DOT actions to allow limited service beyond the Washington perimeter. (The six cities now served with beyond-perimeter slots are Denver, Phoenix, Seattle, Las Vegas, Salt Lake City and Los Angeles.)
The DOT is expected to choose among the competing applicants after the parties are given a change to file rebuttals to each others' proposals.