Originally Posted by
flyer703
Exactly. It's a 50 year old relic that no longer serves any purpose other than to protect Dulles and congressional districts 1,250 miles or less from DCA.
There's nothing 'easy' about flying out of IAD.
It didn't serve any purpose but to protect IAD when it was created; that's why it was created.
It continues to drive pax to IAD and is why it will stay. Enplanements are growing very well at DCA and not growing well at IAD; removing the rule will result in less pax at IAD which means the cost of flying out of IAD will increase, decreasing the number of pax, increasing cost, etc., etc.
It doesn't "protect" any congress critter's district even though it does make it easier for (some) critters to slither back and forth from whence they came.
In addition, allowing longer flights would result in many more flights using larger (73x, 319, 320) aircraft that are significantly louder than the regional jets/turbo-props. This will make the locals (who knowingly purchased/rented homes next to an airport or in the flight path) even more upset about the noise.
Sure there are things that could make IAD more convenient, but it really isn't that bad. Complain to the public officials that refused to allow Metro to be underground and in the terminal....