Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg reflected on the impact of adding five new long-haul flights at Ronald Reagan National Airport during a House Appropriation Committee hearing, emphasizing there is concern about how the added flights could put “pressure” on the system on Tuesday.

A quartet of senators from the greater Washington, D.C., area tore into a potential provision that would add a number of long-distance flight slots at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA) as part of the upcoming reauthorization of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) reauthorization deal reached between Senate and House negotiators includes the Senate’s language to add five round-trip flights to Reagan Washington National Airport that would be allowed to fly beyond the airport’s 1,