I can't imagine that it WOULDN'T open again. But perhaps National will again be limited to short-hop flights, forcing more people out to Dulles or BWI. Those short runways should be reason enough to limit flights.

(why, back in the old days, when I was growing up, Dulles and Friendship were for big trips, National for the East and maybe as far as Chicago.)

On a related note, it's a sin that National is the only airport with decent public transportation.

Yes, you can take Metro halfway to Dulles, but then you must transfer to a cab or the half-hourly super shuttle bus. If it shows up.

BWI isn't much better from DC. There's Amtrak, but the schedule is limited and only from Union Station. MARC trains don't run on the weekends.

And in both cases, any form of public transportation that involves two or three transfers or takes two to three hours to travel 35 miles isn't likely to be used.

As for super shuttle: after a few years of spotty service, they lost my business two weeks ago when they didn't show up for a confirmed reservation---and operators were unable to reach the driver by radio or phone.