The National Air Transportation Association (NATA) said its efforts to reopen Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA) to on-demand air charter flights are beginning to show signs of success. Although the centerpiece remains a petition filed with the FAA in March seeking rulemaking to determine the conditions under which charter flights could once again use the airport, NATA president Jim Coyne said he and others in the association have been very busy in recent weeks meeting with aviation policy leaders on Capitol Hill and throughout the various government agencies that play a security role.
As a direct result of the association’s efforts, numerous members of Congress have written to President Bush to request exactly what NATA’s petition seeks: a set of security and procedural rules for flying to and from DCA that are equivalent to those imposed on the airlines using that facility.
