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Reagan should have been shut down for commercial use many moons ago. It will never be shut down because it's got all the exceptions so that Congresscritters do
by bsder 2y ago
Reagan should have been shut down for commercial use many moons ago.
It will never be shut down because it's got all the exceptions so that Congresscritters don't have to be treated the same as us plebians.
- LeafItAlone 2y ago>It will never be shut down because it's got all the exceptions so that Congresscritters don't have to be treated the same as us plebians. DCA is open to the public.
- bsder 2y agoDCA is open to the public. But it has lots of ways for Congressmen to avoid the inconveniences that you and I have to endure. The other airports in the area do not have those.
- LeafItAlone 2y agoPlease expand. I fly out of DCA and IAD frequently (and JFK and LGA). I’ve gone through the process next to politicians, though I’ve never recognized any highly ranked ones (e.g. Pelosi, McConnell, etc.). What’s the difference they experience?
- atlasunshrugged 2y agoNot OP but the only thing I'm aware of is new Senator Jim Justice who seems to use a private plane to get to the airport which seems relatively rare. https://punchbowl.news/article/senate/jim-justice-takes-private-jet-to-work-in-dc/ https://punchbowl.news/article/senate/jim-justice-takes-priv...
- wildzzz 2y agoI watched Warren and some of her staff cut the entire pre-check line at BOS. They still had to walk through the metal detectors but without any bags, they whisked through. I got to cut the line at security once because I was on the job, I was completely embarrassed.
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- tayo42 2y ago> the inconveniences that you and I have to endure. What are those? With pre check you just more or less walk through and use a metal detector.
- ghaff 2y agoA lot of people here like to go on about security. I agree there's a certain amount of theater, and I try to avoid really peak times, but with pre-check I do tend to arrive early because I don't want stress but, as you say, it's rarely more than a few minute wait and I pretty much toss my bag on the carousel and walk through the metal detector. It's really not a big deal if you're prepared.
- michaelt 2y agoYour airport sounds a lot better than the ones near me! In my area they all want you to arrive 2-3 hours before your flight, without any water, then to shuffle through security without your belt and shoes.
- ghaff 2y agoI usually arrive about 2 hours before flight time. For one thing, my car company doesn't really want you to cut things close as they'll tend to catch the blame if you miss your flight for some unavoidable reason. But usually security is maybe 5-10 minutes. Don't remember the last time I needed anything like the margin that I give myself. Probably doesn't hurt that I'm usually taking early morning flights.
- chgs 2y ago2-3 hours means you get 1-2 hours spending airside.
- addandsubtract 2y agoWhat's pre-check?
- 2y ago
- rayiner 2y agoNot disagreeing, but is there something particularly wrong with DCA?
- cyberax 2y agoIt's in the middle of a city, with lots of restricted airspace just _seconds_ of flight time from it.
- jcranmer 2y agoFrom what I've heard, it's a challenging airport to land at, particularly because one of the approaches has two sharp turns in it, and I think the main winds tend to be annoying crosswinds for the main runway. Also, the airport is surrounded by lots of restricted airspace because, you know, seat of federal government and all that.
- wiredfool 2y agoShort runway too. 9/11 restrictions only made it that much worse. It was discussed post 9/11 about closing National Airport, but congress wouldn't hear it. It was too convenient from DC. (At a time when IAD was way the hell out there, rather than being 1/2 the way out the sprawl.) I won't fly through DCA in the winter, because when I was a kid there was the Air Florida crash. I'd much prefer IAD with it's 3 mile runways and straight approaches.
- rob74 2y agoThe Air Florida crash had very little to do with the airport and a lot to do with the pilots who took off with dangerous amounts of ice/snow on the wings. Fortunately, de-icing procedures have also improved since then - in the 80s, it was possible to have a long time between deicing and takeoff; today, deicing is done at the end of the runway, shortly before lining up for takeoff. Full story: https://admiralcloudberg.medium.com/the-cold-laws-of-winter-the-crash-of-air-florida-flight-90-cdcba7847e0a https://admiralcloudberg.medium.com/the-cold-laws-of-winter-...
- 2y ago