Congressman Cleaver Announces Success in Keeping Southwest Airlines Route from Kansas City to Washington, D.C.
KANSAS CITY, MO – December 18, 2014 – (RealEstateRama) — Congressman Cleaver is pleased to announce that yesterday, the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) unveiled their intent to allow Southwest Airlines to permanently operate a route from Kansas City International Airport (MCI) to Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA). The airline had previously been running a daily nonstop flight between the two cities on a temporary basis, since February 1, 2014. Frontier Airlines had previously operated this route before its sale in January.
Congressman Cleaver, along with other Members of the Missouri and Kansas Congressional Delegation, wrote a letter to Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx in March in support of Southwest’s application to maintain the slot on a permanent basis. In addition, the Congressman personally spoke to Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx and emphasized his strong support of the route.
“This is a great victory for the entire region, because this is a connection to our nation’s capital for the constituents of Missouri’s Fifth District, and for the entire region,” Congressman Cleaver stated. “Southwest’s MCI-DCA service is clearly in the public interest, providing additional options for travelers and a greater number of available seats between the two cities and connecting across the nation.”
More than 2.4 million people who reside and work in the Kansas City metropolitan area can now rely on this daily, nonstop service. Southwest currently utilizes a 143-seat Boeing 737-700 aircraft for the route, providing approximately fifty percent of the seats in this market in just one daily roundtrip flight. The Congressman looks forward to the ease with which Missourians and Kansans can travel to our nation’s capital on a permanent basis.
Emanuel Cleaver, II is the U.S. Representative for Missouri’s Fifth Congressional District, which includes Kansas City, Independence, Lee’s Summit, Raytown, Grandview, Sugar Creek, Blue Springs, Grain Valley, Oak Grove, North Kansas City, Gladstone, Claycomo, and all of Ray, Lafayette, and Saline Counties. He is a member of the exclusive House Financial Services Committee and also serves as a Senior Whip of the Democratic Caucus.
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