DCA gets expanded service from Virgin, Southwest, JetBlue, Alaska Airlines

Photo courtesy of Jun Seita
Virgin America N623VA Airbus A320-214 (2006) “three if by air”
courtesy of Jun Seita

As someone with family along the left-coast, I always dread travel there a bit, mostly because it means flying out of far-flung IAD or painful-to-park BWI, instead super-convenient-and-right-on-the-metro DCA. The Department of Transportation announced today four new long-haul routes for National, with a DCA-SFO from Virgin America as the most interesting, followed by JetBlue’s new San Juan route, Alaska Airlines’ new Portland route and Southwest’s direct to Austin route. 

This adds to United’s direct route to SFO, Delta’s direct route to Salt Lake City, American’s direct route to LAX and US Airways’ direct route to San Diego.

Anything that means I can fly out of DCA instead of the burbclaves is just fine with me, thanks.

I live and work in the District of Columbia. I write at We Love DC, a blog I helped start, I work at Technolutionary, a company I helped start, and I’m happy doing both. I enjoy watching baseball, cooking, and gardening. I grow a mean pepper, keep a clean scorebook, and wash the dishes when I’m done. Read Why I Love DC.

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7 thoughts on “DCA gets expanded service from Virgin, Southwest, JetBlue, Alaska Airlines”

  1. Who parks at BWI?

    That’s what MARC/Amtrak/B30 bus (something WMATA actually does right) are for.

  2. When you’re coming back into town late Sunday night, I’d much rather drive straight home than shady bus to a $20-30 train to Union Station to the Metro to a mile walk home…

  3. Does Southwest fly out of DCA? I thought they ended that in 2008? Also, are there no direct flights to Vegas anymore?

  4. No joy for directs to Vegas at this time. It’s outside the 1,250-mile service radius for DCA and hasn’t been granted a route exemption as of yet. Southwest is coming back TO DCA to start service to Austin.

  5. US Airways has the only nonstop to Vegas.One flight a day.
    The Southwest aquisition of Airtran gets them into DCA.

  6. 1. There’s nothing shady about the bus.

    2. Amtrak is as cheap as $14.

    3. You’ll still have that mile walk taking the Metro from DCA, no?

    4. I’ve taken to making that return flight early on Monday morning instead of late on Sunday night. Flights are less likely to be delayed, you’re dealing with business travelers instead of tourists, and it puts a $6 MARC ticket on the table.

    5. As KB7120 noted above, US Airways flight 48/49 provide direct service DCA/LAS.

  7. Dulles is a ways out, but I just love seeing it every time, a timeless iconic structure, my favorite in the world.