Despite a broadly coordinated effort by local officials, it turns out this may not be the year San Antonio gets a nonstop flight to Washington, D.C.
On Wednesday, the House voted down an amendment to a bill that would have increased the number of flights into Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA) and given the San Antonio International Airport (SAT) a shot at the long-sought-after air service.
After passing in the House on Thursday, the Federal Aviation Administration Reauthorization bill (HB 3935) will next advance to the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation.
If enacted without changes to the legislation’s slot and perimeter rules, the wait for direct-to-D.C. flights could go on for at least another five years when the reauthorization bill is due to come up for review by Congress again in 2028.
For years, federal law has used a 1,250-mile perimeter rule limiting how many direct flights go in and out of federally owned DCA.
That has forced San Antonio travelers bound for D.C. to choose direct flights to Dulles International Airport, located about 26 miles from the capital, or even Baltimore-Washington International Airport, a 32-mile drive.
San Antonio, at 1,600 miles from the nation’s capital, is just beyond the perimeter. Travelers from Houston, inside the perimeter, have it easier, and an exception to the rule was made for Austin-Bergstrom International Airport in 2012.
But city officials think San Antonio has good reason to be included, given its size and strong ties to cybersecurity, energy, health care, and military operations.
A campaign to change the rule was led in recent months by the City of San Antonio, the economic development nonprofit Greater:SATX and local chambers of commerce.
“A non-stop flight from San Antonio to Washington, D.C. is long overdue,” stated the mayor, county judge and others in an open letter to Congress that was shared Tuesday by Greater:SATX.
“For years, enhancing air connectivity and direct access to D.C. has been a top priority for our community. This year we are proud to say that it can become a reality with San Antonio’s $2.5 billion airport expansion plan.”
It was also backed nationwide by Capital Access Alliance, a coalition of groups pushing Congress to act on behalf of several cities.
The perimeter rule was an antiquated one made to protect and help the Dulles airport grow in the 1960s, said Brian Walsh, a spokesman for the Alliance.
Since then, the perimeter was extended slightly and efforts have been made to add more carrier slots at DCA and perimeter exemptions, including a failed attempt in 2018 by U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-Laredo) that would have allowed San Antonio’s airport to swap an existing route for the nonstop-DCA flight.
As the opportunity to make changes to the bill came around again this year, a representative from Utah sponsored an amendment that would add seven new roundtrip in-and-beyond perimeter slots to DCA split among the seven airlines servicing the airport. Republican U.S. Rep. Tony Gonzales co-sponsored the amendment.
Opponents of the change, including senators from Maryland and Virginia, have said the Dulles airport is already at capacity and that adding more slots to Reagan would siphon customers from Dulles.
The House voted 229-205 late Wednesday to strike the bipartisan proposal from its version of the legislation that will go up for a vote Thursday before it advances to the Senate. San Antonio’s delegation in the House voted in favor of the measure.
“This fight is far from over,” Walsh said. “Changing the status quo is never easy, and we’ve seen how aggressively opponents of reform react to threats of more competition and lower prices for consumers. As this debate moves to the Senate, we will continue to elevate the voices of Americans who are suffering from high ticket prices and a lack of access to their nation’s capital.”
Dave Petersen, interim president and CEO of the Greater San Antonio Chamber of Commerce, said the chamber is disappointed the amendment failed.
“A direct flight from San Antonio to Reagan Washington National Airport has been a priority for this Chamber and our business community for several years,” he said.
City Manager Erik Walsh said the city and other stakeholders will keep working with federal legislators for the DCA flight, which is viewed as one of San Antonio’s top unserved markets given its military ties.
“We have strong demand for a nonstop flight to Reagan National Airport, which includes our Defense community,” he said. “We are home to Joint Base San Antonio, the largest Joint Base in the nation, and have the largest cybersecurity footprint outside of the Washington area.”
Jenna Saucedo-Herrera, president and CEO of the Greater:SATX, said the effort to connect SAT and DCA is “far from over.”
San Antonio, as part of an economic mega-region, is well-positioned to win as the bill goes into the Senate committee, she said. “It is certainly promising as well to see a major Texas-based airline like Southwest Airlines come out in favor of this effort.”
