President Donald Trump said at a Cabinet meeting Tuesday that Dulles International Airport outside Washington, D.C., is “not a good airport by any means.” “This is a terrible airport.”
He’s not alone in his evaluation.
Dulles Airport, which has been in operation for 60 years, regularly ranks on worst airport lists. The main reason for this is one of its most unusual features. People transportation, more formally known as a “mobile lounge”, was used to transport passengers between the gate and the plane.
These unwieldy vehicles – a type of giant bus lifted by hydraulics – became the topic of a presidential cabinet meeting after a crash last month injured more than a dozen people. And now Trump is announcing big changes.
Mobile lounges aren’t the only problem. Transport Secretary Sean Duffy later decried the airport as “smelling of jet fuel.” He announced that his department is soliciting proposals and public-private partnership plans to build a new terminal and concourse there.
Although it may have few modern fans, the story of Dulles’ design and evolution is fascinating, explains Bob van der Linden, curator of civil aviation at the National Air and Space Museum.
“This is the main entry point to the country’s capital, especially for international travelers,” Van der Linden said. “This is very important. And of course, large runways are great for large planes.”
Dulles was built during World War II when it became clear that Washington National Airport could not handle the growing air traffic in the area. The Washington Airports Act of 1950 paved the way for work to begin once a site was selected.
“They were looking at the area of Burke, Virginia, or they were thinking of taking over an air force base, but that didn’t work out,” Van der Linden said. “They settled in Chantilly, Virginia, where there was quiet, open farmland.”
President Dwight D. Eisenhower selected the 10,000-acre site in 1958. The name was then chosen after John Foster Dulles, Secretary of State in the Eisenhower administration.
Made for the future. It was the nation’s first airport designed to accommodate commercial jet aircraft, which were beginning to dominate the skies. With the advent of the supersonic era, large runways were constructed in anticipation of faster and larger aircraft.
Nevertheless, the new airport gained a reputation as a “white elephant,” Van der Linden said. Many argued that it was a waste of taxpayer money because it was 42 miles from Washington, D.C., and it was thought no one would use it.
But success soon came. Thanks to three factors, according to a George Mason University analysis.
First, Fairfax County, Virginia, in close proximity to the airport, has experienced significant commercial and residential growth over the years, and The Dulles has proven to be a convenient transportation option for its expanding population.
Second, aviation deregulation in 1978 allowed airlines to create “hub-and-spoke” route networks, connecting large aviation hubs like Dulles with smaller cities, greatly increasing air traffic.
Finally, the airport expansion in 1999 opened a new midfield concourse terminal with increased capacity.
Despite Dulles’ perceived shortcomings, its aesthetics have won praise. Architect Eero Salinen, who designed the original terminal’s expansive, modern lines, said he wanted to “find the soul” of the airport, according to Dulles Airport’s website. He called it “the best thing I ever did.”
Salanen was hailed by President Trump earlier this week as “one of the world’s greatest architects,” calling his work on Dulles “a great building for a terrible airport” and hinting at “amazing plans” to rebuild the airport.
Van der Linden said Dulles’ main flaw for many is what made it original in the first place: its reliance on mobile lounges to move people around. It was built as a partnership between Chrysler and railroad manufacturer Budd Company, and could accommodate approximately 100 people. It is still used for international arrival flights and Air Force flights.
“The problem, among many others, was that the airport was great when it opened in 1962, it was good through the ’60s, but after deregulation, traffic increased,” he said. “The mobile lounge wasn’t really useful anymore. We needed a way to handle the increased traffic.”
Over the past 40 years, aviation authorities have made a major push to modernize Dulles, van der Linden said. But so far, little progress has been made.
That could change quickly if President Trump makes good on his promise this week to “make this country as good as it is.”
“It’s going to be exciting,” he added.
Mr. Dulles’ sudden elevation to President Trump’s to-do list comes in the wake of last month’s incident in which a mobile lounge crashed into a concourse, injuring 18 people. There have been other incidents in the past, including one involving a Southwest Airlines flight attendant who was killed in 2012, according to the Washington Post.
It’s unclear what President Trump or the Department of Transportation wants to change about the “terrible” airport. In early October, President Trump made an unplanned stop at Dulles, but the White House said it was for the president to evaluate “potential future projects.”
The DOT this week submitted a request for input as it works to design, finance and construct the new terminal.
United Airlines, which uses Dulles as one of its hubs, issued a statement following the administration’s comments this week. “We look forward to working with President Trump, Secretary Duffy, and FAA Administrator Bedford to continue to strengthen airport infrastructure and operations in a meaningful and cost-effective manner for the benefit of our customers and employees.”
According to van der Linden, adding new facilities is not technically difficult.
“The Dulles was built with the future in mind in 1962,” he said. “It was built to be expandable, because there’s so much land there that you can add more runways to it. That’s the problem most airports have these days. They need more runways.”
