History of the WATF

Until 1982, business opportunities just flew by.

A visionary group of regional leaders decided to "do something about Dulles Airport," which was then viewed as a wasted asset. Years later, improved air service has helped the National Capital region achieve one of the highest levels of prosperity in the nation. Washington Dulles now is one of the top 10 gateways to the nation, and the global reach created has helped make Washington America's largest technology center.


Today, that visionary group is known as the Washington Airports Task Force (WATF), a nonprofit, non-partisan, 501(c)(3) Virginia corporation that works to promote the expansion and enhancement of aviation services for Virginia and the National Capital region in order to stimulate job creation. "Doing something about Dulles" changed Washington's air service from being among the worst in the nation to being among the best and enabled significant regional economic development.