Politics
Flight Attendants Union Slams President Trump’s Arch Plan Over Safety Fears, Potential Military Purpose
The union representing 55,000 flight attendants has joined the growing list of critics of President Donald Trump‘s proposed arch near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.
Sara Nelson, president of the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, said the 250-foot Triumphal Arch poses safety risks. She also criticized plans to turn the structure into a “top grade military complex.”
“DCA is already stretched to its limit, we do not need an obstacle taking up space in our flight path,” Nelson, 53, said in a statement, per AP News. “Nor should commercial aviation have to dodge military drones, missiles or snipers while attempting to take off or land at Washington National Airport. Safety first always.”
Her comments come after Trump, 80, took to Truth Social on Sunday, September 20, to say the U.S. military had made a “strong request” to adapt the arch for storing military equipment.
According to the BBC, he wrote that it would “house, store, and have the rapid ability to use large numbers of drones, plus Snipers, on both the roof and plaza areas, and additionally have and hold large quantities of sniper ammunition in storage.”
Nelson also pointed to the January 2025 midair collision between a passenger plane and an Army helicopter over the Potomac River, which left 67 people dead. She said the arch only adds to unanswered safety questions after that incident.
The arch has already received approval from the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts and the National Park Service. Before Trump revealed the military component, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said on its website the structure wouldn’t create an aircraft hazard. The agency did recommend added visibility measures, saying it should be “marked with a non-standard eternal flame on top of the structure and floodlight projectors pointed towards the arch to make it noticeable for pilots.”
Still, the project has plenty of opponents: As Globe previously reported, a group of veterans sued the Trump administration in May 2026, calling the construction “disrespectful.”
