The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) said this week it has opened a new effort to study a full redevelopment of Washington Dulles International Airport. DOT officials issued a request for information (RFI) seeking design, construction and financing proposals for entirely new terminals and concourses.
Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy said the initiative is intended to evaluate options for modernizing the airport’s dated infrastructure.
“Tourists, world leaders, and CEOs from around the world should not be forced to travel through an inefficient airport when they visit D.C.,” Duffy said in a statement.
He added that the agency is “engaging the private sector” on approaches at Dulles that could be completed “at the speed of Trump.”
Under the RFI, respondents may propose a full replacement of the existing terminal and concourses or submit concepts that incorporate portions of the current Eero Saarinen-designed structure into a reconfigured facility. The department said it intends to share all submissions with the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority, which operates Dulles under a long-term lease.
DOT’s notice follows recent scrutiny of the airport’s aging people mover system, including a mobile lounge accident last month that injured 18 passengers. Former federal official Trent Morse said during a Senate hearing that “the people mover is a relic of the past,” adding that travelers “are transported back to the sixties.”
According to the RFI, the department is seeking input on design concepts, rough cost estimates, potential delivery structures including public-private partnerships, and methods for minimizing operational disruptions during construction.
DOT said the information will support evaluation of future options for a “new international gateway airport for the National Capital Region.”
Back in the '60s I flew in and out of Dulles a number of times and while a beautiful, new terminal it was unusual. You had to take a vehicle out to the plane, no getting on the plane at the gate. In the mid '70s nothing had changed. They thought it would relive the congestion at Washington National but people didn’t want to drive out to Dulles.
Plenty of major airports use vehicles to transfer passengers to/from aircraft including LHR, FRA, AMS, BRU. It is less common in the US, but it can happen.
AA is even replacing regional aircraft service with “luxury” buses on some routes.
Several American airports have satellite terminal pods detached from the main terminal and use high speed people movers to transport passengers to them from the main terminal. Seems to me that concept would be the best and least disruptive modernization for Dulles. It would be a shame to tear down the very unique and iconic main terminal building.