‘A slap in the face’: Two competing airlines challenge San Antonio’s bid for direct flight to Washington, DC

SAN ANTONIO – The fight for a direct flight from San Antonio to Reagan National Airport in Washington, D.C. has intensified.

Several airlines, including American Airlines, are trying to secure one of five nonstop routes.

San Antonio leaders have pushed to secure a spot for years.

“We’re still having conversations,” said Rep. Chip Roy, a Republican congressman representing Texas’ 21st Congressional District. Roy is part of a group of bipartisan lawmakers making the push.

Leaders, including Greater San Antonio Chamber of Commerce president Jeff Webster, have been making yearly trips to the nation’s capital to gain support.

“For 25, 30 years, this has been a priority for us,” Webster said. “We’ve worked extremely hard. Not because it’s just a dream, but because we need it.”

Webster said securing this flight to Reagan would not only help with tourism but also business and the military community.

“We are the seventh largest city,” Webster said. “One of the largest insurers of military staff and personnel is USAA, headquartered right here in San Antonio. You better believe we deserve that flight.”

American Airlines isn’t the only airport fighting for a spot.

United Airlines is trying to land a flight to either San Francisco or Los Angeles.

In comments filed with the U.S. Department of Transportation, United Airlines said San Antonio is a smaller metropolitan area than others trying to get a nonstop flight to Washington.

“Yeah, it’s absolutely absurd,” Roy said. “It’s a slap in the face, and it’s even worse to try to diminish the size and the importance of San Antonio as United is done by saying, ‘Oh, it’s just a small city, really.’ Why don’t you come down and explain that to the people of the seventh-largest city?”

JetBlue Airlines, which is also pining for a flight from D.C. to Puerto Rico, said in its comments that “people in San Antonio can drive to Austin for the existing non-stop service to DCA.”

“What Austin is not is Military City, USA,” Webster said. “What Austin is not is the largest Hispanic community in Texas that oftentimes needs to travel for a variety of reasons.”

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