I was torn on whether to write about the new, grand plan to completely remake Washington’s Dulles International Airport (IAD). After all, it is a massive project with a short timeline. That is worth talking about since it never really happens that way in the US… but also, it probably won’t happen this time either. I can’t imagine a world where this happens as planned, or even remotely close to it anytime soon. It’s a whole lot of grandstanding from the White House, and that should be taken at face value.
That being said, Dulles has a real problem, and so I decided that I would write about it. In fact, I’m going to write two posts about it. Today, I’ll start with a little history and the state of affairs as it stands today. Then tomorrow, I’ll get into why this plan is nuts.
Let’s start by setting the stage. Here is how Dulles looks today:
At the top is the iconic Saarinen-designed terminal with the swooping roof. You know what it looks like, but it’s just such a beautiful building, I’m going to give you a photo to swoon at anyway.
Postcard via Boston Public Library
It was first built in 1962, and it looked like the above photo. But it wasn’t completed to the original specs until 1996 when it was doubled in size. Even that doubling in size happened before the changes to airport security after 9/11, so that process could use some help.
There are a handful of gates that are attached to the main terminal — the Z gates — but nearly all gates require going to another concourse. And that’s one of the big problems with this airport. It’s not that it has other concourse, but rather it’s how you get to them.
You can see in the photo what looks like one of the original mobile lounges. These would transport people from the terminal to the gates. Planemates would actually take travelers right to the airplane itself, jacking up the vehicle on a built-in scissor lift. I actually took one of those in 1992 to get to a Lufthansa DC-10.
These were supposed to be the wave of the future, but of course, that future never arrived. People hate waiting for a vehicle and would rather walk or take something more reliable, like a train that doesn’t have to wait for aircraft traffic to pass by.
In the mid-1980s, the C/D concourse was built as a so-called Temporary Midfield Concourse. This was for United which opened its hub at the airport at that time. It is still there 40 years later, being “temporary” and generally falling apart. Mobile lounges brought passengers between the concourse and the terminal.
It wasn’t until 1998 that Terminal B was opened, and then Terminal A followed in 1999. Terminal A was built for a different time in a different world. That was made for turboprops and 50-seaters with ground boarding and no actual notable waiting space. Terminal B is functional, and has been expanded more than once, but overall, that is about the only thing that works.
Progress has happened, but it’s been slow. For years, people had to take mobile lounges that drove across the ground to each concourse as the only way to get to them. In 2004, an underground walkway opened between the main terminal and the A/B concourse. Then in 2010, the AeroTrain opened to connect… some of the other concourses.
The designers of the AeroTrain made the same mistake everyone else made… thinking that the Temporary Midfield Concourse was actually temporary. They built the station to hit a non-existent terminal further to the south where a terminal was eventually supposed to be built. So, travelers could take the train to the this random stop and then walk back to C, which is inconvenient at best. For those going to D? Forget it, the mobile lounges still roam the airfield connecting D both to the A gates where regional flying is and the main terminal.
The only other really significant change at Dulles lately has been the extension of the DC Metro to the airport. The Silver Line station there opened in 2022.
Since then, the focus has been on building a new, actual concourse for the first time in ages. This is Concourse E, or it will be when it opens later this year:
When this is done, it’s supposed to allow United Express to relocate away from the A gates. Those can then be rebuilt down the road for a more functional purpose, though I don’t think that’s officially been announced.
Regardless, what you see is a new E, a mostly-functional B, and a whole lot of other stuff that needs to be replaced. Throw on top that half-finished AeroTrain and there is work to be done. And there was a plan, but it was going to be expensive and take a long time to complete.
But then President Trump stepped in. He loves to leave his stamp on things, and Dulles was a target ripe for the picking. Nobody loves the experience at Dulles, so he could step in and try to look like a hero.
The plan is ambitious, and that’s being modest. It’s not going to happen the way it’s being pitched, but that’s a discussion for tomorrow.
