EL PASO, Texas (Border Report) – The City of El Paso and the commanding general of Fort Bliss are asking the federal government to allow direct flights from this border city to Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.
The request is based on existing travel demand that forces more than 100,000 local passengers a year to book connecting flights to the Washington, D.C. area and beyond, inflating the cost of their tickets by an average of $60, according to the groups.
It’s also justified by an even greater potential market consisting of 156,000 U.S. service members, their families and civilian employees working at Fort Bliss – one of the largest military training areas in the United States, according to a letter sent by El Paso International Airport Aviation Director Sam Rodriguez to members of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure.
“The region’s significant military presence, federal agencies and airline competitiveness would benefit from such a change. Modern airline technologies make nonstop flights safe and environmentally sound,” Rodriguez wrote.
He asked the committee to support federal legislation seeking to grant El Paso an exemption from the “perimeter rule” that limits non-stop flights to the nation’s capital originating from places more than 1,250 miles away. Rodriguez said the nearest major airport to El Paso not subject to the rule is in Austin.
The perimeter rule “costs passengers $500 million in higher ticket prices,” he said. “Several major airlines currently servicing El Paso International have expressed their commitment to operate a nonstop flight from El Paso to (Reagan National).”
Maj. Gen. James P. Isenhower III, commander of the 1st Armored Division and senior commander of Fort Bliss, sent a similar letter to committee Chairman U.S. Rep. Sam Graves, R-Missouri, on July 6.
“Fort Bliss and nearby White Sands (New Mexico) Missile Range are home to nearly 100,000 service members and their families, in addition to 46,000 veterans in the local area. As such, there is an ever-growing demand for convenient and efficient travel options,” Isenhower said.
U.S. Rep. Veronica Escobar, D-Texas, earlier this year co-sponsored a bill to give 28 cities direct flight access to the capital and is now supporting Republican amendments that would keep El Paso in play. She is also asking peers in Congress to consider an exemption for El Paso during this week’s debate on the 2023 Federal Aviation Administration reauthorization bill and once it goes to conference later this year.
“I am proud to support El Paso, Texas, a binational community situated on the U.S.-Mexico border (and) a significant federal law enforcement and military presence […] in addition to being one of the busiest trade corridors in the country, as a prime candidate for inclusion of non-stop flights” to the capital area, Escobar said in recent testimony before the committee.
More than 3,000 federal law enforcement officials, from U.S. Border Patrol agents to Drug Enforcement Administration personnel, work in the El Paso area.
Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport is located in Arlington County, Virginia, but is the closest major airport to downtown Washington, D.C.
