[JYO] Bush to Reopen Reagan National Airport

Bush to Reopen Reagan National Airport
New Security Measures Will Be Used

By JONATHAN D. SALANT
.c The Associated Press

WASHINGTON (Oct. 2) - President Bush travels to Reagan National Airport 
outside Washington Tuesday to announce its reopening under tight security. 
Armed air marshals would be on every plane taking off or landing at National, 
two lawmakers said.

The president, who had been urged by members of Congress and local officials 
to reopen the airport, signed off on a new security package at a White House 
meeting Monday, according to several officials involved in the discussions.

National is the only commercial airport yet to reopen following the Sept. 11 
terrorist attacks. What worries federal officials is that the airport's 
flight paths bring planes close to the White House, the Capitol and the 
Pentagon. Security measures to be imposed once the airport opens are designed 
to prevent hijackers from taking over a plane and crashing it into a nearby 
government building with only seconds or minutes warning.

Under the new rules, the number of incoming and outgoing flights would be 
limited, administration officials said. Reps. Tom Davis, R-Va., and John 
Mica, R-Fla., said air marshals would be placed on all planes using the 
airport.

Restrictions on air traffic will include a temporary prohibition against 
flight patterns that follow the Potomac River near the White House, Capitol, 
Pentagon and CIA.

The airport will first open to service to eight airports involving six 
airlines and will gradually expand.

Other possible security improvements include increasing screening of 
passengers and luggage, extra inspections of airplanes, additional checks of 
flight crews and others who can enter secure areas of the airport, securing 
the cockpits of all airplanes, and varying the routes that planes use to take 
off and land.

Virginia lawmakers have urged the White House to reopen the airport, which is 
a major source of jobs in the Washington area. Other members of Congress also 
have pushed for reopening the airport, a favorite of lawmakers returning to 
their districts each weekend.

On an average day when it was open, some 42,000 passengers used the airport, 
and 10,200 people worked there. About 6,000 jobs are at closely connected 
businesses such as car rental companies, and local business groups estimate 
that another 70,000 tourism and hospitality jobs depend on the airport.

Overall, the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority estimates that the 
airport pumps $2.4 billion a year into the local economy.

Mica, chairman of the House aviation subcommittee, said the National Security 
Council insisted on some security provisions before the airport could open. 
''There's no reason these things can't be complied with,'' Mica said.

Pilots said they were ready to fly in and out of the airport.

''We've safely flown in and out of National Airport for many, many, many 
years,'' said Capt. John Cox, executive air safety chairman of the Air Line 
Pilots Association. ''We need to get that airport open. Every day that we 
don't, we stand directly affected by the acts of the madmen.''

But an aviation watchdog group criticized efforts to reopen National.

''This move would make the capital vulnerable to renewed aviation terrorist 
attacks and would send the message that the U.S. is not really serious about 
homeland defense,'' said Paul Hudson, director of the Aviation Consumer 
Action Project.

Hudson recommended that National instead be used as the headquarters and 
training ground for the new Office of Homeland Security, and as the base for 
Air Force jets flying over Washington.

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