I'm sure a lot of you remember the days when the "mobile lounges" were the only way to get from the only terminal in existence (the main terminal, which was half its present size) to the airplane. I was doing a lot of LHR-IAD-LHR in the mid 1980s, flying on jam-packed Pan Am 747s. At the published departure time, all 400 of you got on one of four mobile lounges and simultaneously arrived at one of the four doors on one side on the 747. There was no rhyme nor reason concerning which mobile lounge you boarded versus where you had your seat assignment. You could wind up on the rear-most mobile lounge with a seat in F or C and vice versa. People climbed over each other for a full hour before everyone was seated and the airplane was ready to taxi.

Oh yeah -- the only parking lot was the one which is now the hourly lot in front of the terminal. Around peak travel times, it was not uncommon to drive all the way out there and not be able to find a parking space. There was very little between the Beltway and IAD -- Herndon was a sleepy little town -- so there were no economy lots or offsite parking. No space and you were SOL for your flight.

They are building an underground train system to connect all the terminals. The portion from one of the daily lots to the main terminal to terminal B is already operational. I can't imagine the Teamsters Union not putting up a fight when it's time to end the era of the mobile lounges.