Dem lawmaker touts non-stop flight service from Mississippi to DC

Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) said Tuesday that new non-stop flight service from his home state to Washington, D.C.'s Ronald Reagan National Airport had been approved.

Thompson said the Department of Transportation has authorized U.S. Airways to fly directly from Reagan airport to Medgar Wiley Evers International Airport in Jackson, Miss.

Thompson said the service will be permanent and will benefit his constituents.

“This flight will continue to benefit civic leaders, the business community, advocacy groups, schools and tourist throughout Central Mississippi," he said. "I commend the Jackson Municipal Airport Authority, U.S. Airways, and our local business community for their collective work to make this flight permanent.”

The federal government has regulated "slots," or authorization to operate flights, at Reagan airport and New York's LaGuardia Airport because of limits on runway capacity at the facilities. Flights from both airports have traditionally been capped at 1,250 miles, though the transportation department has authorized a number of exemptions in recent years.

Thompson said Tuesday that the slot for the flight from Reagan to Jackson, Miss., could not be traded. If U.S. Airways decides to stop operating the flight, he said, the DOT would solicit another airline to provide service between the cities.

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