Some Members of Congress are pushing to change a little-known, but hugely influential airport rule that could seriously impact flights in and out of local and regional airports including the Fayetteville Regional Airport. 

Fayetteville is trying to get a direct flight back to our nation’s capital. The Coalition to Protect Regional Airports, a new nationwide organization is dedicated to safeguarding flight options for airports and air travels.  The proposed changes would alter rules which ensure convenient and safe flights into Washington DC Reagan National Airport (DCA), and potentially reduce service to local and regional airports such as Fayetteville that play a critical role connecting tourists, business and military contractors.

These so-called “slot and perimeter” rules – which place a limit on flights originating outside of a 1,250-mile perimeter around Reagan National Airport – were designed by Congress to address DCA’s limited physical size and capacity and ensure regional airports like Fayetteville and the communities they serve maintain access to our nation’s capital.

Reagan National is the airport closest to Washington DC, and is therefore the favored airport for most members of Congress, some of whom are therefore motivated to change DCA’s slot and perimeter rules.  For Fayetteville it would be convenient to have a direct flight to DCA for our military contractors.

Changes to these slot and perimeter rules would not only undermine the operational stability and availability of flights at DCA, they would also have a negative trickle-down impact on regional airports across the country. 

The existing perimeter statute protects air service to smaller regional airports and communities within the perimeter. DCA cannot add more flight slots to its operations because it’s already operating at maximum capacity. Therefore, in order to add slots for out-of-perimeter airports, DCA would have to take slots away from existing airports.

These slots would likely be taken from smaller airports and could even result in eliminating the only direct flight a city might have to the capital region. Larger out-of-perimeter cities already have nonstop service to Washington DC, if not to DCA because an already carved out exemption in the rule, then at least to one of the other two airports serving the nation’s capital - Dulles and BWI.

These proposed changes come as airports grapple with a record travel year and historic shortage of air traffic controllers. Congress should be focused on dealing with these challenges – not altering well-designed rules that will only further increase crowding and safety concerns, upset service to smaller communities, and have a potential ripple effect that will be felt throughout the regional airport economy.

The City of Fayetteville should join the Coalition to Protect Regional Airports and urge Congress to keep the DCA perimeter rule in place.

Written by Bobby Hurst