It’s tempting to say that before the September 11 terrorist attacks we had nearly total freedom to fly as we pleased in our national airspace. But that would be a delusion. Access to much of our airspace has not been unfettered for decades, and the right to fly in very large portions of airspace has come with a price. Now we are encumbered by temporary flight restrictions (TFR) that pop up at the government’s whim anywhere in the country where certain elected officials travel, or where the government decides there is some sort of terrorist threat. We have an air defense identification zone (ADIZ) that touches no national border. The ADIZ, designed during the Cold War to identify incoming bombers, is now being used to keep citizens at bay. And worst of all, a federally owned and operated airport is off limits to all who fly for business or pleasure. That airport is Washington National, of course.
What is different about these affronts to airplane operators and pilots in this country is that for the first time a new dual category of citizen has been created. A few U.S. citizens can land at National, but the rest cannot. Even though many of us are willing to pay for access to airports and airspace, as we have in the past, we are denied the right to fly into National.
