[JYO] DCA might open tomorrow

Sources: Reagan National Airport to reopen

October 1, 2001 Posted: 7:02 PM EDT (2302 GMT)

Washington's Reagan National Airport has been shut down since the September 
11 terrorist attacks.       
    
By John King
CNN Washington Bureau 

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- President Bush has signed off on a plan to reopen Ronald 
Reagan Washington National Airport with additional security measures, 
administration sources told CNN Monday. 

The sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the reopening may be 
formally announced as soon as Tuesday. Reagan National, located in the 
northern Virginia suburbs near the Pentagon, has been closed since the 
September 11 terrorist attacks and is the only passenger airport in the 
United States still closed. 

New security measures would include armed federal sky marshals on every 
flight in and out of the airport for the foreseeable future, plus heightened 
security measures inside the airport, said sources. The measures "would go 
even beyond" new restrictions put in place across the country since the 
September 11 terrorist attacks, source said. 

Traffic in and out of the airport would be regulated by air traffic 
controllers "in a manner consistent with national security concerns," said 
the official. Additional air space in the area will off-limits airlines, the 
official said. 

On Monday, Virginia's governor and congressional delegation went to the White 
House to lobby for Reagan National's reopening, saying its continued closure 
is costing jobs and damaging the economy of northern Virginia. 

President pondering reopening

Bush has been considering recommendations for the airport's future that 
Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta put together, White House Chief of 
Staff Andrew Card said Sunday. 

"We want to do what is right rather than do it fast," Card said on "Fox News 
Sunday." 

Speaking on NBC's "Meet the Press," Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld also 
said he would like to see the airport reopened, saying it would be 
"unfortunate" to "alter our way of life" after the attacks.

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