Reagan National Airport’s parking crunch has become a little less challenging as the busy summer travel season arrives.
More than 600 new spaces became available this week, part of a parking expansion in the airport’s economy lot.
“We desperately needed that to open [on time], and it did,” said Chryssa Westerlund, an executive vice president and chief revenue officer for the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA).
Westerlund and other MWAA officials briefed the agency’s board of directors on trends and facilities upgrades at a May 20 meeting.
The new parking facility is the first of two phases of a temporary above-ground parking garage located on the economy lot. The second phase, set to open this fall, will add another 800 parking spaces.
The spaces are needed to offset losses at the airport’s garages as a massive redevelopment of Reagan National’s road network gets underway.
Opening came just in time for the Memorial Day holiday weekend, seen as the traditional kickoff of the summer season. This year, typical summer crowds could be increased by those visiting the local area as the nation celebrates its 250th birthday.
“We’re expecting thousands of additional visitors,” MWAA president/CEO Jack Potter said. “Our team has been working overtime to make sure we are ready. We’re looking forward to a most memorable summer.”
Those traveling through the airports over the summer are encouraged to reserve parking in advance. During the peak of spring break, parking at Reagan National was filled to 96% of capacity, while Dulles International reached 90%, Westerlund said.
The Airports Authority saw strong March passenger activity at both National and Dulles, partly because most spring-break activities occurred that month rather than in April.
Passenger totals then declined in April, due to the spring-break calendar and higher airfares resulting in part from the U.S.-Iran conflict.
The current environment provides “some big challenges as well as some big opportunities” for the airports, Potter said.
Eight airlines serve Reagan National with more than 400 flights per day, connecting the airport to over 100 domestic and eight international destinations.
Celebrating airport, airline anniversary
Next month will mark the 85th anniversary of the opening of National Airport. President Franklin Roosevelt, who several years before had selected its site, attended and observed the first official landing on June 16, 1941.
Representatives for the two major carriers then serving the airport — American Airlines and Eastern Air Lines — drew straws to determine which would have the honor of being the first to land at the airport.
American won, and a plane piloted by Bennett Griffin became the first to arrive. Six years later, Griffin would be tapped by the federal government as airport manager.
At its opening in 1941, National was the most advanced airport in the world. It replaced the dilapidated Washington-Hoover Airport, located nearby.
At the May 20 MWAA board meeting, Potter said the airport in April had marked the 100th anniversary of the first flight of a predecessor of American Airlines.
That 1926 inaugural flight by Robertson Aircraft Corp. delivered a bag of U.S. mail in a DH-4 biplane from Chicago to St. Louis. Its pilot was Charles Lindbergh, who the following year would achieve international fame by flying across the Atlantic solo.
By 1930, Robertson and dozens of other smaller airline companies had been consolidated into what would become Aviation Corporation, then American Airways and finally, in 1934, American Airlines.
While American has had a significant presence at National since the airport’s opening, it didn’t become the dominant carrier there until its 2013 merger with US Airways.
Today, the airline and affiliated regional carriers handle roughly 60% of all traffic at the airport.
