National's Fate

Wednesday, September 19, 2001; Page A32

REAGAN NATIONAL Airport, gateway to the nation's capital through decades of war and peace, is the only major airport in the country that is shut down -- its future, but not its planes, up in the air. A decision on when -- or whether -- to reopen the facility rests with the National Security Council and military authorities, which must weigh the risks of continuing to operate an airport so close to the seats of government. We are sympathetic to the serious security concerns about National. But before any judgment is made to close the airport permanently -- a move that would have deep national as well as regional consequences -- the government should carefully examine whether new security measures, instead of closure, can make National safe.

Though National has special problems, much can be done to address them. In addition to the in-airport and in-flight security measures already announced or publicly proposed for the nation's air system, there are special, undisclosed procedures that security experts say could and should be in place at National. Protection of the airspace over this capital city will become a higher military priority regardless of whether the airport reopens.

But location and external security should not necessarily be, by themselves, controlling factors in determining National's safety. Commercial pilots and security officials note that a plane from almost any airport can be turned quickly toward a sensitive urban target. Planes from Dulles and BWI are only two to three minutes from downtown Washington -- and it was, of course a flight from Dulles, not National, that struck the Pentagon. What matters more is the screening of passengers and baggage and the protection of pilots. Such security should be turned over to a highly trained federal government force, with much-improved equipment. In flight, pilots should be sealed off from all passengers at all times; sky marshals should be aboard every flight. The costs will be high, but for now, at least, most travelers seem willing to bear greater inconvenience and expense.

A prolonged closing of National, in contrast, would be hard for both passengers and the region at large to bear. It would transform the capital area from one of the best-served air markets in the country to one of the worst. Over time, Dulles and BWI could absorb the traffic of National -- nearly 16 million passengers used the terminal last year -- but that would soak up the room for growth at the two other airports. Ten thousand jobs at National and billions of dollars of economic activity generated by the airport hang in the balance. Already, thousands of airline employees have been laid off or shipped out.

Reopening National may have complexities that take time to address. But local officials, travelers and the regional airports authority itself need federal officials to make a decision soon about whether their goal will be to continue operating the facility. In making that judgment, authorities should not be unduly beholden to congressional or other parochial interests; nor should they make a judgment about National's potential safety on the basis of location alone.