Originally Posted by
flyer703
Really? I've never seen safety listed as a justification of the perimeter rule. Protecting Podunk cities within the perimeter - yes. Propping up Dulles by forcing trans-con flights there - yes. Reducing noise (an old falsehood that still sadly persists) - unfortunately yes... But not safety.
No, that's what slots are for. What does the perimeter rule have to do with congestion? What difference does it make if the arrival is coming in from LAX or LGA? Every arrival and departure adds to congestion no matter the origin or destination of the flight.
You are spot-on here. My only disagreement is that rather than have the government artificially push traffic to IAD to help them survive, MWAA and United should get off their a** and rebuild the third-world experience that currently is the C/D concourse, align the air train to the terminal so it's not a 20 minute walk to the gates, and improve the food, beverage, and other amenities, so that people CHOOSE to use IAD and don't have to be coerced by the government into doing so. THAT is the right way to get enplanements to where they need to be.
You are correct. There are two laws/regulations impacting DCA - the perimeter regulation from 1966 and the 1969 high density law (which also affects LGA, ORD, EWR, and JFK). These two laws/regs are frequently conflated - which I did above. So, to be accurate: the high density law is intended to increase safety by limiting operations by setting a fixed number of slots per hour - primary focus is on safety and to a lesser extent noise. The perimeter rule was not about safety but rather noise abatement from the new jet aircraft and then also for the economics of the new IAD: to drive traffic to Dulles and keep DCA the "short-haul" airport.
Re: the suggestion of going the "build it and they will come" approach for improving IAD: unfortunately it doesn't work that way. C/D replacement is in the billions of dollars (new Term A is going to be just shy of $1b). Pittsburgh tried it - and it didnt work out. If they try it here, and let DCA take on a couple million more pax, those pax will never go, or go back, to IAD; DCA is simply too convenient.