Nearly every member of San Antonio’s Congressional delegation — a group whose allegiances span the entire political spectrum — is engaged in the effort to add a direct flight from San Antonio International Airport (SAT) to Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.
But even rare bipartisan unity may not be enough to deliver a goal city leaders and the business community view as a critical piece of their much larger airport redevelopment.
Federal law limits how many direct flights go in and out of federally owned Reagan National (DCA), forcing San Antonio travelers to lengthen their trips with connecting flights, or commute to fly in and out of other airports with direct access, like Austin-Bergstrom International Airport.
The rules are up for renegotiation this year when Congress must reauthorize the Federal Aviation Administration for another five years, and San Antonio city and business leaders have been aggressively pushing their representatives in D.C to make it happen.
“This region’s deep ties to [Joint Base San Antonio] and NSA cyber presence demands have increased, and are only going to continue to grow with the redevelopment of the San Antonio airport,” said Danny Zimmerman, chairman of the North San Antonio Chamber of Commerce. “Despite this, San Antonio remains one of the most critically important airports left out of having nonstop, direct access to the nation’s capitol.”
San Antonio’s delegation already missed its first shot to fix that problem in July.
The House voted down an amendment sponsored by U.S. Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-San Antonio) that would have allowed seven new slots to DCA, split among the seven airlines that currently service the airport.
It faced tough opposition from United Airlines, which controls about 70% of the slots out of Washington Dulles International Airport, located in Northern Virgina, and currently has a monopoly on direct flights from the region to many destinations, including San Antonio.
Though the three Democrats and two Republicans who represent the San Antonio area united behind Gonzales’ effort, it failed 229-205 in the Republican-controlled House.
San Antonio’s next opportunity now rests in the hands of its junior senator, Ted Cruz, who is the highest-ranking Republican on the Senate’s Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, which must produce its own version of the FAA Reauthorization bill.
“Everybody says Cruz is in the right position to be the guy to get this done,” said Dave Petersen, the interim president and CEO of the Greater San Antonio Chamber of Commerce.
At a Friday press conference at the San Antonio International Airport Cruz, who is not known for his close relationships with Senate colleagues, said he’s been working with the committee’s chair, Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Washington) on a proposal to add four new slots out of DCA in the Senate’s version of the bill. The idea would then have to survive a negotiation process that combines the two bills, and be approved by both chambers.
“The two of us were on the phone to almost midnight negotiating different aspects of the bill,” Cruz said of his work with Cantwell. “We reached consensus on a bill that was going to move and was going to move with overwhelming bipartisan support.”
Instead, that bill was stalled due to disagreements over aspects unrelated to the flights in and out of DCA.
The current authorization expires at the end of September and is expected to be extended until lawmakers in the House and Senate can come together on a new agreement.
“The end zone is still in front of us,” Cruz said. “At this point, I do not know for certain what will happen, but I believe we will get this done.”
Helping the effort across the line is a D.C. public affairs team full of heavy hitters with deep relationships on Capitol Hill. That firm is working on behalf of the Capital Access Alliance, a coalition of groups pushing Congress to expand DCA slots on behalf of several cities.
Though they’ve tried and failed in the past, Cruz’s colleagues in the delegation are cautiously optimistic they’ll be able to pull off direct flights this time.
U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-Laredo), who championed a failed effort to bring SAT a direct flight to D.C. in 2018, said he’s already lobbying House colleagues to support Cruz’s plan.
“If they can get it through the conference committee, then I’ve talked to members that voted against it” but are open to the smaller number of slots, Cuellar said.
If the new slots are approved, the airlines that fly out of DCA would still have to apply for the additional slots and select San Antonio as the chosen destination.
The city is considered a top candidate for a direct flight because of its proximity to military installations, and because it’s the largest market that doesn’t currently have a direct flight.
