The legislation would order the federal government to renegotiate leases for Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport and Washington Dulles International Airport.
Aircraft at Reagan National Airport (Photo: Shutterstock | Kit Leong)
New language inserted into President Donald Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act would force the renegotiation of leases for Washington, D.C. airports, which could raise costs for airlines and, in turn, passengers.
The Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation produced a version of the budget reconciliation plan that would order the federal government to renegotiate leases with the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority for operations at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport and Washington Dulles International Airport.
MWAA has leased Reagan National and Dulles from the federal government since 1987. The two sides recently signed a new lease agreement that would run through the year 2100, but the proposed legislation would effectively scrap that deal and force renegotiations at 10-year intervals.
Notably, the Big Beautiful Bill raises rates on the MWAA much more sharply than the existing agreement would have. The authority currently pays $7.5 million to lease both airports, and that figure would double starting in 2027 if the Senate version is ultimately passed and signed into law. From then on, the cost for the leases could never be less than $15 million in 2025 dollars.
“That would drive up costs to the airports,” Virginia Sen. Mark Warner told WTOP in Washington this week.
Warner said rates are being raised to make up for deficits created by other sections of the Big Beautiful Bill.
“That number in cost savings would mean that the airports authority would have to eat those costs that would simply be then passed on to the airlines, that would then be passed on to the passengers,” he said.
In a statement, MWAA told WTOP that it doesn’t make a profit from running the airports and uses extra revenue to contain costs and support maintenance and infrastructure projects.
The version of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act passed by the U.S. House of Representatives last month includes billions in spending for defense and border security, including earmarks for uncrewed aircraft systems and kamikaze-style drones. The act also imposes work requirements on Medicaid recipients, increases the child tax credit, and limits the ability of states to impose restrictions on the development of artificial intelligence.
Senate Republicans have said they hope to pass their version of the bill by July 4.
Receive a daily dose of the airline industry's top stories along with market insights right in your inbox.
The addition of a fourth parallel runway at Charlotte Douglas International Airport in North Carolina will require the renumbering of…
For the first time in nearly 20 years, Americans will get to bypass one of the most roundly disliked airport…
Court documents filed last week reveal that American is seeking a preliminary injunction against the City of Chicago to halt…
