GA Now Has 17 Choices For Access To Regan Washington National

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) announced yesterday it has named Dulled International Airport (IAD) as its newest gateway airport allowing certain pre-cleared general aviation (GA) operations, including corporate aircraft, charter flights, and on-demand operations, to fly directly into Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA). Operators may apply to begin general aviation flights from IAD into DCA.

Under current TSA rules, GA flights into DCA must arrive from one of 17 gateway airports after crew and pax screening.

"We are being responsive to the aviation industry by adding Dulles as a gateway to DCA," said John Sammon, TSA's Assistant Administrator of Transportation Sector Network Management. "This provides operators much greater flexibility when traveling to the nation's capital while underlining TSA's commitment to maintain the highest levels of security while allowing for the free flow of commerce."

This is the latest update to TSA's access program started in July 2005. Along with the "temporary" permanent Washington Air Defense Identification Zone, the rules limit the number of GA flights per day into DCA to 48. TSA says the rules "...[address] the unique aviation security needs in the national capitol region by requiring all aircraft to meet standards set by TSA."

Those measures still include:

• Advanced registration and qualification of operators and crews seeking to operate at DCA
• TSA inspection of crew and passengers
• TSA inspection of property (accessible and checked) and aircraft
• Identification checks of passengers by TSA
• Submission of passenger and crew manifests 24 hours in advance of flight
• Enhanced background checks for all passengers and a fingerprint-based criminal history records check for flight crew
• An armed security officer on board each flight, authorized to use force
• All operations subject to cancellation at any time
• Increases in the national Threat Level in the Washington, D.C. area or in the vicinity of the gateway airports, will require all general aviation operations into and out of DCA to cease

In addition to Dulles, Dallas/Love Field; Memphis, Tenn.; Milwaukee's General Mitchell; Seattle-Tacoma, Wash.; Boston Logan; Houston Hobby; White Plains, N.Y.; LaGuardia, N.Y.; Chicago Midway; Minneapolis/St.Paul; West Palm Beach, Fla.; San Francisco; Teterboro Airport, N.J.; Philadelphia; Lexington, Ky.; and Port Columbus, Ohio all serve as gateway airports.

FMI: www.tsa.gov, www.dhs.gov, www.faa.gov