Delta Air Lines (NYSE: DAL) may soon offer a direct flight from Seattle to Washington, D.C., after the Department of Transportation granted a tentative flight slot to the carrier on Wednesday.
The flight would connect Seattle-Tacoma International Airport to Washington’s Ronald Reagan International Airport, putting Delta in head-to-head competition with Sea-Tac’s largest carrier, Alaska Airlines (NYSE: ALK). Alaska has long been the sole carrier to offer nonstop flights between the two airports.
The Transportation Department also approved a handful of flights from D.C. to other airports around the country. After a two-week public comment period, the agency will finalize the routes and expects airlines to begin the new flight service within 90 days.
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“Delta commends the Department of Transportation for recognizing that additional service from DCA to Seattle will give consumers the much-needed competition and choice they deserve,” said a spokesperson for Delta, adding, “We look forward to the Department finalizing its decision quickly.”
Though the nation’s capital has three regional airports, Reagan is the closest to the city’s downtown. SeaTac-based Alaska currently runs two direct flights per day between Seattle and Reagan.
Passengers flying to Washington, if they’re not taking an Alaska flight to Reagan, typically land at Dulles International Airport, which is located much further from the city center. About a half-dozen nonstops flights go between Seattle and Dulles each day.
Port of Seattle Commission Vice President Toshiko Hasegawa wrote in a statement that the port, which oversees Sea-Tac, “strongly supported” Delta’s application for a direct flight between the two cities.
“The new flights to DCA will allow Pacific Northwest residents to have more travel options to our nation’s capital and will deliver much-needed access and affordability for travelers in our region,” she said.
Trips between the two airports have long been commonplace for Washington politicos headed to their jobs in D.C. But the new flight may also prove popular among Amazon employees traveling between the tech giant’s Seattle headquarters and its new HQ2 in Northern Virginia, only a mile away from Reagan.
The new routes to were approved by Congress in May as part of the Federal Aviation Administration’s reauthorization bill.
Also as part of the bill, Alaska will also begin a new nonstop route between D.C. and San Diego.