After a week of debate in the District, the fate of Reagan National Airport is still uncertain. While none of the flights hijacked last Tuesday originated at National, the attacks highlighted the validity of concerns the Department of Defense has been voicing for years: The airport is too close to the heart of the District.
The question of what to do with the airport is a difficult one. As many have pointed out, failure to return to normal is, in a sense, to grant a victory to terrorism. But the symbolic victory of business as usual is hardly worth the potential security risks. A jet taking off from National could easily reach the Pentagon, the White House or the Capitol within minutes.
So while the Federal Aviation Administration is reopening the nation’s air travel network with new policies it has been discussing for decades, National may be left behind. Permanently closing the District’s first airport has now become a very real possibility.
If National does indeed close, no one seems certain what will follow. Baltimore-Washington International Airport and Dulles International Airport would need to be expanded. And still, District commuters would lose the convenience of having an airport just a few Metro stops from downtown. Another option is to move National out to the current site of Andrews Air Force Base and move the Base to National’s field. The Department of Defense has yet to comment on that plan, but it sounds far-fetched. Andrews would not provide National’s convenience and switching the facilities would be an expensive endeavor. Instead, it would be easier just to expand Dulles or BWI.
Additionally, closing National would leave a huge tract of prime real estate with no real purpose. Developing the land could lead to major changes in the urban layout of the region; the area would be prime for a Crystal City-type development of condominiums and retail space. This reason is as good as any why National needs to stay.
Members of Congress have generally spoken out in favor of re-opening the airport, and the FAA is currently looking into re-opening shuttle services to New York. This initial step will most likely go through, but further operation of the airport may be restricted.
National Airport should remain where it is, but additional FAA security precautions?well beyond those currently being implemented?may be required. New FAA regulations have banned knives of any size on all flights, tightened personal security checking and begun work on developing heavier background checks on passengers. The “Air Marshals” program, developed in the 1970s to combat terrorism by placing law enforcement officials on flights, may be reinstated. This may well prove quite effective; Israel, a country that has faced terrorist crises for years, seems to have had excellent success with a similar program on its state-run airline.
National airport may well require additional steps. While remaining mindful of citizen’s rights, the FAA is going to need to be creative. But whatever these steps are, the FAA and the airport’s authorities need to be prepared to take them. The threat of hijackings, however serious, cannot be permitted to close an entire airport.
