Originally Posted by cova

I think the original plan was to scale DCA way back and IAD would be the main Washington DC airport. Of course that never happened. Business travelers (including government employees) preferred the convenience of DCA. Same is true of other airports like DAL and LGA. Although In the case of DEN, they shutdown the close in airport.

But I think i was still wise to build IAD way back in the early 1960s - even though not needed, as they were able to get the land and build the IAD access road. The surrounding areas are densely populated - so trying to build a new airport now would be impossible.