I kicked up enough of a fuss the last time, that the guy moved my the belt that wasn't being used on my side

Rules are rules.

The checkpoint was originally for Clear, crew, and passengers who knew it was there. The crew and airport employees were moved to the east side about the same time as the new main checkpoints opened. I think that was due to fussing about crew/employees having to share a crew line.... IIRC, they also reduced the number of processing lanes.

At the same time, it also became the "designated" special-assist checkpoint. At certain times of day, you could save time by using the diamond lanes if you knew they were there. Like with all diamond lanes everywhere, it was/is self-select. No enforcement, because it was a suggestion, not a law.

I stopped using the lanes when they were the first lanes to implement the strip-search machines. With that action & the designation as preferred lanes for handicapped, the main lines became faster.

The change in designation will simply reflect practice. Unless the airport & TSA choose to discriminate against able-bodied passengers, I expect it will remain open to all, though the TSA may change the staffing/hours.

IAD is miserable if you fly UA/Star. Aside from the horrid and obnoxious TSA (worst wait time in the US), it's not so bad on the carriers operating from Concourse B. I love the convenience of DCA (and the lack of strip-search machines on the AA concourse), but I really don't mind flying AA out of IAD when I'm going to the west coast. Concourse B is the model for how the UA concourse ought to be.

This is already in practice....and has been for a long time! The only way this is a shorter wait is early in the morning or your timing is amazing! Last time I was second from the TSA podium dor document check and 6-7 wheelchairs rolled up. I wouldn't care but it seemed as though they were all first time travelers who didn't know there was restrictions on things you could fly with. By that time I was committed and had to endure.....

Diamond is essentially worthless to the experienced traveller. And, because it is out of the way, if you get there and it's crowded, it's another level and walk to get to the "standard" checkpoints.

I don't see how it is out of the way. If you go there and then decide against using it, you simply walk to the southern wall of the baggage claim level and find an escalator down to security. While there is some walking associated with the process, it isn't much walking.

And as an experienced traveler, I also know enough that it isn't always greener/better somewhere else. Often, the downstairs area is ten times worse than any crowd you might see at the Diamond line. It's not so simple, and the security area is not useless.

A couple of floor-standing signs have appeared in front of the Dulles Diamond Lane. They explain the change from "Diamond" to "Special Needs". They don't mention a date for the change. They don't mention any change in the hours of operation of the checkpoint - currently 4AM - 6PM.

They do say explicitly that, after the change, "Any traveler presenting themselves at this checkpoint during normal hours of operation will not be turned away." So that aspect doesn't change at all.

So really they are just removing the TSA propaganda of the named lines that never were what they were intended to be anyway

Agreed. And as of a few days ago, the "Diamond" name has been removed from the signs there. The hours of the previously-designated-Diamond checkpoint remain the same at 4AM-6PM.

Awful news. I've never NOT seen huge lines upstairs, except for one very late night departure.

Um, downstairs perhaps?!?

Tried to use this lane with a friend on the morning of 23/12 and it was pretty full of what looked like inexperienced fliers. Got moved over to the employee line.

Just now after my return flight I saw that it was absolutely jam-packed; no wheelchairs.

Shame, as the regular premium line dumps the elites out behind the kettles who can't comprehend that a 54 oz bottle of PertPlus isn't allowed in their massive carry-on. Maybe I should just start connecting out of DCA.

/rant

I used this line on 12/24, as it was completely deserted. I was surprised by the statements of the TDC. After she had checked me and the wheelchair that had arrived after me, she verbally detailed all of the TSA policies for liquids, shoes, laptops, etc., as if the line were designed for novice travelers.

Not sure what you mean by "... as if the line were designed for novice travelers." The DULLES CHECKPOINT is now intended to speed the security check on special-needs passengers (primarily wheel-chair parties) and designated groups (often "Honor Flight" groups of World War II veterans. Those folks get sent directly to the Document Check podium.

Anyone else who has a need to go through TSA security is entitled to use the serpentine queue - there is no other requirement to use this checkpoint, and you will find travelers in the queue with widely different levels of TSA expertise.

I understand that there is no requirement for expertise to use the line. But the TSO's announcements seemed designed for extremely inexperienced travelers, and were even more basic than the announcements you would hear or see at the normal checkpoint.