It soon will be easier to take a non-stop flight out of Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport to the West Coast or even Puerto Rico.
U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said Monday that four non-stop flights will be able to fly out of the airport as part of a new law passed in February that allows new service to cities more than 1,250 miles away.
The new flights will be:
- Portland, Ore., via Alaska Airlines
- San Juan, Puerto Rico, via JetBlue Airways
- Austin, Texas, via Southwest Airlines
- San Francisco, via Virgin America
Additionally, some airlines have been allowed to swap some of their shorter flights for longer ones outside of the 1,250-mile boundary, the U.S. Department of Transportation said.
- American Airlines will trade a Dallas-Fort Worth flight for one to Los Angeles.
- Delta Airlines Lines will trade one round-trip flight to New York LaGuardia Airport for a trip to Salt Lake City.
- United Airlines will trade a Chicago O’Hare trip for a flight to San Francisco.
- US Airways will trade a Dallas-Fort Worth flight for one to San Diego.
The changes must occur before Sept. 1 but could begin earlier, said U.S. DOT spokesman Bill Mosley. Congress must pass a law to allow any flights farther than 1,250 miles from the airport, the closest to the nation’s capital.
