Originally Posted by
blockski
The current construction for Concourse E was actually authorized under the old lease (which is why it's happening now); the approval for it included two distinct actions that were often conflated in the media. First, to build the new concourse, and second, to demolish the low-A regional gates. And because these projects are linked, then somehow people were thinking that the new concourse was actually just an RJ concourse, but that was never the plan.
I was able to rustle up a press release from the MWAA that described Tier 2 East as a direct replacement for the RJ A gates, which was an assertion that I always found puzzling and misleading.
https://www.mwaa.com/news/dulles-int...gate-concourse
The Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority is proposing a new concourse at Washington Dulles International Airport to replace outdoor boarding areas currently used by regional flights, upgrade aircraft service facilities and bring new conveniences and amenities to passengers.
The proposed “Tier-2 Concourse (East)” would be a modern 14-gate facility with convenient access to the airport’s underground Aerotrain system and would include new shops, restaurants and other customer services as well as the latest aircraft-servicing technologies to accommodate future needs. It would replace gates built in the 1990s at the eastern end of Concourse A, where many regional-flight passengers currently go outdoors to access their planes via covered walkways.