Originally Posted by
UA_Flyer
Recent unfortunate events (walk bridge in DC, Surfside etc) have me concerned about the safety structure of the C/D Concourse.
It was supposed to be for temporary use for about 10 years when it was built in early 80s, and now it is close to 40 years in service. I know United announced a couple of years ago (?) on improvement around the same time it announced the IAD Polaris lounge being built.
May be there is nothing to worry about.....
If a tornado happened to pick a path to C/D...
I do wonder if there is a scenario where after the regional A gates are demolished the space get rebuilt as regular sized gates, the Z-west gates are finished, and this new midfield terminal gets expanded (say doubled, with the same planned footprint being built out now also built towards the west.
Move some of the A/B ops to Z-west, and UA then has ~30 (or more?) gates out in the new mid-field and 20-30 gates in A, with plenty of options for gates at various parts of the day when they are underused in A/B.
Might be cheaper than just straight replacing C/D and building the train out to D.
By that same build plan, maybe UA takes over A/B, build out a FIS facility in a reconstructed A, and move the existing A/B airlines to a fully built Z and the new midfield further out.