Less time getting from point A to point B this summer — that’s the aim of new passenger flight routes the Federal Aviation Administration is rolling out across the East Coast.
“The FAA has been working since 2019 to optimize, or make more efficient, routes along the East Coast,” FAA COO Tim Arel said.
Arel says planes are already taking new flight paths to get you to your destination more quickly. The FAA made the announcement about the new routes back in March, but with school out and more people taking to the skies in the coming weeks, Arel says the benefits will be more noticeable.
“Utilizing GPS and other advanced navigation tools, we’re able to fly aircraft more direct, and sometimes at higher altitudes,” he explained. “They may go more direct, and fly at higher altitudes above that traffic in the mid-Atlantic region to avoid some of the congestion you might see somewhere like D.C.”
In total, there are 169 new East Coast routes, and dozens of them depart from Reagan National.
“We expect that they will save around 40,000 flying miles,” Arel told WTOP. “So 40,000 miles less, which equals about 6,000 minutes per year.”
He added that many of these routes use the jet streams and fly above more turbulent air, which means that “usually, it’s a smoother ride, I’d say, as a passenger.”
On the surface, this is all great news. But the rollout is happening as Congress debates whether to have more long-distance flights take off from Reagan National Airport (DCA), which could create more traffic.
A bill being introduced by Sens. Raphael Warnock (D-GA) and Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) would permit more routes that extend beyond the current 1,250-mile perimeter from the airport.
Many of the new long-haul flights would operate from DCA to head out west. Virginia and Maryland lawmakers like Sen. Tim Kaine say they are opposed to adding more flight slots to the already busy docket at DCA. They say it already has one of the busiest runways in the country.
“You let more flights into Reagan National, you’re going to increase congestion and delay time,” Sen. Kaine said.
Kaine says he thinks some lawmakers want the additional flights for their own convenience.
“It might be good for a member of Congress or two. It’s not going to be good for everyday travelers,” he said.
