Flights from Reagan National (DCA)

Airlines flying from Reagan National

1. 1Reagan National's strict 1,250-mile perimeter rule limits most flights to within that distance — only 14 'beyond-perimeter' slots are exempted (Salt Lake City, Phoenix, Denver and a few others), keeping the airport focused on East Coast and short-domestic traffic.
2. 2DCA is closer to Capitol Hill (4 miles by taxi) than any other major US airport is to its city's central political district — close enough that air-traffic patterns near the Capitol require special TFR (Temporary Flight Restriction) protocols.
3. 3DCA was renamed in 1998 from 'Washington National' — controversial both for its association with President Reagan's 1981 firing of striking air traffic controllers and for the political pushback against renaming an airport after a recent president.
4. 4DCA has the most stringent security profile of any major US airport due to its no-fly proximity to the White House — armed Federal Protective Service officers patrol the runways and any incursion triggers an immediate F-16 scramble from Andrews AFB.
5. 5Terminal A at DCA is the original 1941 building — making it one of the oldest still-active terminal buildings at any major US commercial airport, and a US Civil Aviation Historic Landmark.

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