SAN DIEGO (FOX 5/KUSI) — Alaska Airlines soon could be adding nonstop trips from San Diego International Airport to the Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Washington, D.C. The airline announced Wednesday that the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) has tentatively been granted one of five new direct service slots for the D.C. airport opened up by Congress earlier this year. Alaska says it formally applied in July to begin service on a daily roundtrip flight between San Diego and the nation's capital with one of the placements. Should the airline's proposal be finalized, it would be the first direct service option available between the two airports. SAN airport ranks among lowest rated for customer satisfaction by J.D. Power “Leadership from all industry sectors and communities across the San Diego region have spoken up in support of nonstop air service between DCA and SAN," Kimberly Becker, president and CEO of the San Diego County Regional Airport Authority, said in a statement shared by Alaska. "We appreciate that DOT’s thoughtful analysis supports restoring service between the nation’s largest unserved aviation market. We look forward to the final order to cement the service that both San Diego and Alaska Airlines have been advocating for more than ten years,” she added. As detailed by the proposal filed with the DOT, Alaska is hoping to open up nonstop, roundtrip service between San Diego and Washington, D.C., with departures scheduled for 8:30 a.m. on the West Coast and 5:30 p.m. on the East Coast. The planes used would likely be either a Boeing 737-800 or 737-8 MAX, the application adds. Both have 159 seats, including a dozen for first class passengers and 30 for "Premium Class." If it is approved by the federal airline regulators, Alaska would begin the service within 90 days of the slot being finalized. However, an exact timeline for that has not been released. "Over the past two years, I have worked with our San Diego International Airport leadership, our Congressional delegation and Alaska Airlines to advocate for a direct, nonstop flight to DCA," San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria said in a statement posted to X, formerly Twitter. "With the largest concentration of military assets in the world and the largest national defense workforce in the country, a top-tier biotech and innovation economy — and as the center of binational business with Mexico — this nonstop flight will be a major boon to those doing important business in our nation's capital," he continued. San Diego airport gets $26M in federal cash for noise mitigation, runway updates Joining Alaska with its service to San Diego, American, Delta, Southwest and United Airlines are also set to receive routes from Reagan National to destinations across the country — specifically, San Antonio, Seattle, Las Vegas and San Francisco. Congress regulates flights in and out of Reagan National, which is one of three airports in the Washington, D.C. metro area, that are longer than 1,250 miles. The regulation dates back to the opening of Washington Dulles International Airport in the 1960s and was designed to move most long-distance air travel away from Reagan National, thus easing strains placed on the airport due to frequent air travel. The Associated Press contributed to this report.