Bill OK’d to hike air service from D.C. to Las Vegas

Benjamin Grove

Wednesday, Oct. 6, 1999 | 11:26 a.m.

WASHINGTON -- The Senate on Tuesday approved a bill that could bring more planes full of wealthy tourists from the nation's capital to Las Vegas. Senators cleared the legislation after grounding it for months.

"We think the action they took was long overdue," said Michael Conway, president and chief executive at fledgling Las Vegas-based National Airline Inc. Conway wants to expand flights to Washington.

The Senate moved on the bill after the House passed it in June. The bill would add 24 new routes at Washington's Ronald Reagan National Airport, including 12 flights longer than 1,250 miles to and from Washington. A 1986 law prohibited flights at National beyond that perimeter.

Sen. Richard Bryan, D-Nev., along with presidential candidate Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., introduced the legislation in the form of an amendment to Congress -- a $44 billion Federal Aviation Administration reauthorization bill. Bryan called the perimeter rule "unfair, arbitrary and outdated."

"Washington is a very affluent market," Bryan said in an interview Tuesday. "That's the kind of market you want to be able to reach directly."

The FAA bill now heads to a joint Senate-House conference committee that will hammer out any differences the two houses have with the bill. Then President Clinton must act on it.

The 1,250-mile perimeter rule was established to boost traffic to Virginia's Dulles International Airport in suburban Washington. Dulles offers two daily direct flights to Las Vegas on United Airlines.

National Airport, just across the Potomac River from the hustle and bustle of the nation's capital, is more convenient for locals.

Bryan hopes airlines will use the new route slots at National to offer nonstop flights to Las Vegas.

"With literally tens of thousands of new hotel rooms over the last several years, and more on the way, we need to aggressively pursue every possible opportunity for increasing air service to Las Vegas," Bryan said in a statement after the vote.

Officials at National Airlines have been eyeing National Airport since the airline launched in June.

"The perimeter rule has long since outlived its purpose," Conway said. "We think it was the right decision, and we're prepared to apply for the slots."

The FAA reauthorization bill also included a provision aimed at curbing "air rage," legislation pushed by Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev.

"We've all heard the horror stories of someone getting out of control while onboard an airplane," Reid said in a statement Tuesday. "What many people don't realize is that it is a federal crime to interfere with a flight crew member."

Reid introduced the legislation because the number of unruly passengers assaulting flight attendants and other passengers is increasing.

The amendment would increase the maximum civil penalty for air rage to as much as $25,000. It would also give the Attorney General the authority to deputize local law enforcement officers to deal with unruly passengers. Current law states that only federal law enforcement officers can respond to such incidents.