Delta’s push for more flights at Washington airport gets a fresh look after deadly crash

Before the deadly collision at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport on Wednesday, Delta Air Lines lobbied Congress to allow more flights into the busy airport, with the support of lawmakers from Georgia.

The most recent fight pitted two of the country’s largest airlines against each other.

The number of flights and the distance of flights to and from the airport are restricted by law. But periodically, huge lobbying battles have emerged when Congress considers changing the rules.

Leading the fight for the most recent change was Atlanta-based Delta, which argued the airport had the capacity to accommodate more flights without sacrificing safety.

Delta said at the time that it wanted Congress “to modernize the outdated perimeter rule.” It’s part of a broader strategy by the airline to improve its competitive position at the airport that’s closest to the nation’s capital.

Lawmakers from Georgia and other states with Delta hubs, as well as others who saw the convenience factor, rallied in support.

The opposition, led by United Airlines, argued that Reagan is home to the world’s busiest runway and didn’t need more flights. The Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority also argued that Reagan was overcrowded.

Opponents said Dulles Airport in northern Virginia, where United has a hub, was built to be the region’s high-volume airspace. United had the backing of officials in Maryland and Virginia, but its argument did not hold enough weight and Congress overwhelmingly approved the increase.

In May , President Joe Biden signed into law a reauthorization of the Federal Aviation Administration that included a provision authorizing five more daily round-trip flights at Reagan, often referred to by its DCA airport code.

U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R) was the only lawmaker from Georgia who opposed the measure, and she said at the time it was because of the green energy and diversity, equity and inclusion programs authorized within the FAA.

The new routes were awarded in late 2024, but the flights have not started.

The one round-trip slot awarded to Delta for a route from DCA to Seattle begins in March. The Wichita, Kansas, flight involved in Wednesday’s crash was not one of the routes added, although it has been in service for only about a year.

The deadly collision of American Airlines Flight 5342 with an Army helicopter Wednesday evening has prompted renewed discussion on congestion at Reagan.

There were 60 passengers and four crew members on the American Eagle CRJ-700 aircraft and three Army crew members aboard the Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter that it collided with. Officials said there were no survivors.

The cause of the collision is under investigation, and it is unclear if the volume of flights at DCA is a factor at all.

National Transportation Safety Board investigators recovered the cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder from the CRJ-700 on Thursday evening.

Yet Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine, who strongly opposed the route expansion authorized last year, told NPR on Thursday that the crash only elevates his concerns.

Kaine, in remarks on the Senate floor last year, raised concerns about the congested airspace over Reagan and said it could “raise the risk of accident.”

In his remarks to NPR, Kaine again raised concerns about congestion.

“I mean, four crew members lost their lives last night in addition to the 60 passengers, in addition to the three soldiers,” he said. “So again, the (NTSB) will get to the bottom of this. And they’ll give us an answer. But I just continue to worry about the congestion issue.”