Democratic Values

Independent Leadership

A Region Stuck in Stall

Reagan National Can Be Made Safe To Reopen

by Jay Fisette, Chair, Arlington County Board
Article in the Wasington Post, Sunday, September 30, 2001

President George W. Bush has encouraged a return to "normalcy" as the best response to the recent terrorist attacks in New York and Arlington. I agree. Yet Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport remains closed -- an unwarranted concession to terrorists.

The plane that crashed into the Pentagon took off from Dulles Airport. The two aircraft that hit the World Trade Center came from Boston's Logan Airport. The Boeing 757 that crashed in Pennsylvania took off from Newark. All three of these originating airports have reopened. The only major airport in the United States that remains closed is Reagan National.

We now know about the potential threat to our communities of a plane used as a weapon. But failure to reopen Reagan National Airport sends a message that air travel is not safe at a time when we must be ensuring safety and reinstilling public confidence in the airline industry.

Experts have identified and will continue to identify many important security measures. The Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority should be given specific, rigorous security standards to meet at Reagan National and an aggressive time frame within which to meet them. The authority has expressed full confidence in being able to meet such standards.

The authority's regional economic impact statement estimated that in 1999 more than 86,000 jobs were tied to the operation of Reagan National; the airport provided more than $5 billion of business revenue, $2 billion of personal income to workers and $500 million in state and local tax revenue annually. This airport is an essential part of the region's economy, as evidenced by the number of people applying for unemployment insurance locally, small businesses on the brink of bankruptcy and hotel vacancy rates.

Reagan National fulfills a unique role in how the region's three airports serve more than 55 million passengers annually. Last year about 16 million passengers used Reagan National. Neither Baltimore-Washington International nor Dulles has the capacity or long-term potential to absorb that traffic. Closing Reagan National Airport also puts more cars on already congested roadways.

Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport can be the most secure airport in the nation. If it cannot be made safe, then no airport in America can be safe.

Fisette for Arlington
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Authorized by Jay Fisette