On the recordFebruary 17, 2011
there have been a lot of negotiations on this amendment, but I do think we now have a breakthrough and a way forward to solve the unresolved issues and pass a very good FAA bill. In general, the amendment does relax the perimeter rule, with exemptions. There will be five new entrant capabilities--``new entrant'' meaning air carriers that do not serve National Airport now at all--and limited incumbents that have fewer flights from National Airport will get five new slots that will be able to go outside of the 1,250-mile perimeter that has been a standard restriction at National Airport. In addition, there will be seven flights that incumbent carriers can exchange from inside the perimeter to outside the perimeter. Earlier the Senators from outside the perimeter, which is basically west of St. Louis or Denver, have wanted 75 new flights. They came down to 30, then they came down to 21, and now we are at 16. That would be total because the last four would come later, after a study has shown that there would not be disruptions or congestion at National Airport. So I think we have a very limited number of flights that will be coming in to National Airport--a total of 16 but, of those 16, 11 are already flights that go in and out of National. Thanks to the good work of the Senators from Virginia and Maryland, there will be very little increase or disruption in the National Airport area.
