Legislation Would Allow Air Taxis Back into DCA

The House subcommittee on aviation late last month signed off on the Aviation Security Technical Corrections and Improvement Act, legislation that would restore “nonscheduled commercial flights” to Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. The act would require operators to have a security program. In support of the bill, the National Air Transportation Association pointed out that since April 1 charters and air-taxi operators using aircraft with mtow of 12,500 pounds or more have been required to meet a federal security program. “We believe that this class of operator is on a par with and may very well exceed the security of scheduled airlines at Washington National,” said NATA. Only scheduled carrier flights have been permitted to use DCA since shortly after 9/11. Other provisions included in the House bill would provide pilots the ability to appeal the revocation of their airman certificate for security matters and create a small-business ombudsman within the TSA.