Austin News

SAN ANTONIO, Texas – U.S. Senate Commerce Committee Ranking Member Ted Cruz (R-Texas), U.S. Representatives Chip Roy (R-Texas) and Joaquin Castro (D-Texas), and San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg, along with aviation and community leaders, held a press conference to discuss the passage of the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2024 into law. This legislation includes a provision for a nonstop flight from San Antonio International Airport (SAT) to Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA).

Sen. Cruz outlined the benefits this bipartisan law will bring to residents of San Antonio and detailed the next steps for implementing the direct flight service.

The law, authored by Sen. Cruz as the ranking member of the Senate Commerce Committee, secures five new round-trip flights to and from Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport from locations previously excluded from direct flights. The Department of Transportation will soon announce application procedures for eligible airlines.

Speaking about the FAA bill becoming law and securing a nonstop flight to San Antonio, Sen. Cruz said, “We’re here to celebrate a tremendous victory for Texas, and a tremendous victory for the city of San Antonio... Just last week President Biden signed into law the FAA Reauthorization bill. This was the bill that took months—I was the lead author of it along with Maria Cantwell, Democrat from Washington State—the two of us drafted the bill together, and it took hundreds of hours, many months, working through the committee…this bill is an over $100 billion bill, making major investments in aviation."

He continued: "It was three years ago that the mayor and the leaders of the San Antonio community came to my office and sat down with me in my office and said the city of San Antonio is united; we want a flight to Reagan...and they asked me then, they said, ‘Will you take the lead? Will you fight to make this happen?’ And I gave my word then; I said, ‘Yes I will,’ and we’re gonna get this done."

Cruz emphasized: "Now I will tell you—and it may sound astonishing but it is true—the single biggest battle on this bill was this new direct flight from San Antonio to DC-Reagan...And at the end of this battle, Texas prevailed.”

The FAA Reauthorization Act delivers several key benefits:

- A historic $4 billion per year in funding for airport infrastructure projects aimed at boosting capacity and safety at airports across Texas.

- Five additional exemptions to statutory “perimeter rule,” allowing new round-trip flights to DCA from locations previously excluded.

- Directing FAA to hire more air traffic controllers due to understaffing issues in Dallas-Fort Worth and Houston areas.

- Authorization for creating a Center for Advanced Aviation Technologies focused on emerging aviation technologies.

- Adjustments boosting McKinney National Airport’s eligibility for up to $20 million in federal funding towards becoming a primary commercial airport.

- Reforms integrating commercial space activities into national airspace benefiting Texas’ space industry.

- Provisions aiding Texas universities in developing aviation-related curriculum programs.

- Funding improvements for operational capabilities at Texas A&M's UAS test range in Corpus Christi.

- Measures addressing wildfire management through better integration of unmanned aircraft systems.

- Streamlined approvals facilitating more drone operations offshore oil facilities.

- Guidance enabling test flights for hypersonic/supersonic aircraft potentially establishing test corridors in Texas.

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