Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA)
Overview:
Roanld Reagan Washington National Airport (IATA Designation: DCA), more commonly known as Washington national, Reagan National airport, or simply National is a national airport located 8 km (5 miles) southwest of downtown Washington D.C. The airport is named in honour of former U.S president Ronald Reagan. Due to its proximity to the U.S capital, DCA faces strict restrictions which force complicated pathing in accordance with prohibited airspaces and strict noise pollution laws. DCA primarily serves flights to other American Airports, with international flights only to Canada and certain countries in the caribbean.
Quick Summary:
● Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (IATA Designation: DCA) is a national airport just outside of downtown Washington D.C
● DCA primarily serves flights to airports in United States, with internal flights limited to Canada and certain Caribbean countries
● Due to its proximity to the U.S capital, DCA faces unique operational challenges on account of numerous restricted airspaces and some of the strictest noise pollution laws in the Americas
Geography:
Located at 2401 Smith Blvd, Arlington, Virginia, coordinates 38° 51′ 8″ N, 77° 2′ 16″ W, DCA is situated 8 km (5 miles) southwest of downtown Washington D.C. The western portion of the airport is built upon a former plantation, which remains part of the airport as a historic site close to the Metro-rail station that serves the airport. The eastern portion is built on mudflats close to Gravelly Point on the Potomac River.
History:
Washington National began construction in 1940, funded by 15 million dollars of recess appropriation courtesy of then president Franklin D. Roosevelt. The airport first opened on June 16, 1941. For the first five years of the DCA’s operations, operations were limited, flying only to several major cities like New York, Detroit, and Atalanta. Through the mid 1940’s and early 1950’s, routes were added, with the airport operating 316 weekday
departures in 1957.
In 1958, a north terminal was constructed to aid the original main terminal with increased demand. These terminals would eventually be connected by 1961. In 1977, A Metro-train that served the airport was opened.
DCA saw a major expansion of the main terminal along with the construction of a new Air Control tower in 1997. In 1998, the airport was renamed to the Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in honour of the former president. President at the time Bill Clinton signed legislation putting the name change in place on Reagan’s birthday.
Facility and Operations:DCA is roughly 861 acres (348 ha) and is home to 60 gates. In 2020, the airport saw 131,299 total operations, with 7,574,966 passengers passing through the airport. DCA utilises three terminals. In 2019, the airport oversaw travel for 23,945,527 passengers.
Terminal A:
Terminal A was the first original terminal opened by Washington National in 1941. It houses gates 1-9. Frontier, Air Canada Express, and Southwest operate their flights out of Terminal A
Terminal B:
Terminal B was opened in 1997, and shares its structure with terminal C. Terminal B has one concourse, while sharing another with terminal C. Terminal B proper houses gates 10-22, while terminal B/C houses 23-34. Terminal B serves Delta, Alaska Airlines, and United. Terminal B/C serves American Airlines and JetBlue
Terminal C:
Terminal C houses gates 35-59. These gates are dedicated exclusively to American Airlines, for which DCA acts as a major hub.
DCA has three runways
01/19 is 7,169 ft (2,185 m) in length
04/22 is 5000 ft (1,524 m) in length
15/33 is 5,204 ft (1,586 m) in length
Due to its location and proximity to the capital, DCA faces several operational challenges unique to the airport.
Special Security:
Due to its location in between the restricted airspaces of the Pentagon and the CIA, aircrafts must be careful to avoid these areas on take off and landing. Pilots taking off from DCA must climb rapidly and make a steep left turn in order to avoid flying over the White House.
Security measures were only increased following the attacks of September 11, 2001. The following measures were added following the attacks.
● Requirement that 30 before landing and takeoff, all passengers must remain in their seats. If this rule was broken, the plane would be diverted to the nearby Washington Dulles International Airport under military escort. This measure was lifted in July of 2005
● Aircrafts with over 156 were banned. This measure was lifted in April of 2002● General aviation was banned. This was lifted in October of 2005, albeit with several restrictions in place such as an armed security officer having to be on board before departing from a gateway
Special Approach Patterns:
Due to extremely strict noise controls, as well as the numerous restricted airspaces above the U.S capital of Washington D.C, aircraft approaching DCA from the north must generally follow the “river approach” when landing. The river approach follows the path of the Potomac River, and is only executable with a ceiling of at least 3,500 feet (1,100 m) and at least 3 statute miles (4.8 km) of visibility. When these conditions are not available, most airlines are usually equipped with capability to perform approaches using either GPS or VOR.
