Projected completion date of IAD Terminal B extension?
 

As I taxied past the new gates of Terminal B, I noticed the carpet and chairs in the waiting areas have been installed, the flight status monitors are powered up and it looks ready for passengers! However, the area near the escalators that would access the underground train is still under construction.

I know the grand opening date is set for some time in 2009 but I was wondering if anyone knew if the terminal extension portion was slated to open earlier. Since it can be accessed through the original portion of B, I don't see why not.

Any news?

The Concourse B expansion should open by the spring of 2008. The train (Aerotrain) system be running until sometime in 2009.

When the expansion opens you will be able to walk through the existing Concourse B to the additional gates. That will be quite a walk, though - so they will be running Mobile Lounges from the Main Terminal directly to the new part of Concourse B until the train system is running.

The MWAA website says it will be completed in August 2008.

True. But an MWAA official told me last week that they are trying to get it open earlier than August as there is a big demand for the additional gates - and summer travel also increases the seasonal demand for gates. We'll see how it goes.

Who will be occupying the additional gate? I believe I read that AA would be moving there but haven't heard anything else.

Great news about the Terminal B expansion being so far along. It'll be interesting to see who moves in there.

I know DL already announced a IAD-LAX route that will be starting soon using their new 73H aircraft - here's hoping to some more transcon. options!

Is DL taking more gates on Conc. B? I hope B6 gets some room to spread its wings. I assume WN will take some more space as well.

I've heard rumors that AA, BA, and B6 will move to the new gates. If that happens I wonder if UA will take over the current AA and BA gates in D.

VX will move from D Concourse to B when gates become available. Not sure if they will be next to VS. Not sure if both of them will move to the new B gates.

Why is it that UA is the biggest customer at IAD but is stuck with the crappy C and D gates?

The new C/D was put on hold after 9/11. I don't think UA wants to pay the higher fees associated with a new terminal. They're not buying new aircraft, and so far haven't recommitted to a new C/D terminal. Hopefully they'll commit soon now that they have expanded their flights at IAD.

Exactly. And additional pressure will be on them when the Aerotrain starts operation connecting the various Dulles buildings. But the Aerotrain won't go to the D Concourse at all. And it will have a station serving the C Concourse - but that station is actually where the yet-to-be-built C Concourse is with a walkway back to the current C Concourse. Not a great situation, especially for those connecting between A and D.

One of the mobile lounge drivers told me yesterday that the B expansion will come into service mid-January. Driving around it on the shuttle from Main to D, you can see the exterior is completely finished, the jetways are ready to be used, all the ground markings for positioning planes and equipment is done, and all construction operations are limited to the area of the B Concourse West Aerotrain station.

It is indeed opening mid-January - but it sounds like a phased opening as not all 12 gates will be in use right away from what I'm hearing.

Which carriers are slated to operate from the first phase?

Airtran is another carrier that is moving, and BA is moving to the middle of the current B concourse (not the new gates). Not sure who is moving initially.

I got a tour of the new B gates and the Aerotrain station. Here are some photos.

The new gates will only be for domestic flights as there is no sterile corridor. Mobile lounges will be running from the west end of the terminal to the main terminal, docking where the C gate shuttle currently docks (across from the security checkpoint). In the main terminal the C gate shuttle will move to where the D gate shuttle is now, and the D gate shuttle will move next to the existing B gate shuttle.

The new gates will open on Jan. 15 with JetBlue, Airtran, and Virgin America starting operations on that day. Delta will follow a couple weeks later. American and Continental will move in later this year. Austrian and British will move into the existing part of B later this year.

AA, BA, and LH will be building lounges. The AA and BA lounges will be in the area of the train station, and LH will be near the Southwest gates.

The B Aerotrain station is still under construction, and there is a corridor for pax to walk through the station area to connect the old part of B to the new part.

Thanks for the update and photos. How did you get invited to the tour?

Another thanks for the info!

2 points for UA guys:
A) a LH lounge should mean that we'll have a decent *A lounge at IAD.
B) now we'll have to trek out to the shuttles from security.

Correction - the Jan./Feb. 2008 Washington Flyer magazine has a diagram showing that in the main terminal the current B gate shuttle (for gates B14-B51) will move to the location of the C gate shuttle, and the new B gate shuttle (for gates B62-B79) will be in the same area. The D gate shuttle will move to where the B gate shuttle currently is located.

langleyoaker is correct. The Mobile Lounges will be running from the west end of the terminal to the Main Terminal, docking where the C Gate Mobile Lounge currently docks (across from the security checkpoint). In the Main Terminal the C Gate Mobile Lounge will move to where the D Gate Mobile Lounge is now, and the D Gate Mobile Lounge will move next to the existing B Gate shuttle.

Their will be 12 gates, and indeed JetBlue, AirTran and Virgin America will start operations on January 15th. It may be confusing at first, but should be fun. The new gate area is nice.

[QUOTE=langleyoaker;9007685]

The new gates will only be for domestic flights as there is no sterile corridor. Mobile lounges will be running from the west end of the terminal to the main terminal, docking where the C gate shuttle currently docks (across from the security checkpoint). In the main terminal the C gate shuttle will move to where the D gate shuttle is now, and the D gate shuttle will move next to the existing B gate shuttle.

The new gates will open on Jan. 15 with JetBlue, Airtran, and Virgin America starting operations on that day. Delta will follow a couple weeks later. American and Continental will move in later this year. Austrian and British will move into the existing part of B later this year.

[QUOTE]

DL is moving to the new gates this Friday (Feb. 1).

That is just screwing UA further by moving the C shuttle with no value added ... there is so much backstabbing between UA and WMAA from my perspective as a passenger. The C shuttle location was one of the last positives of dealing with the remote terminal and mobile lounges.

Just curious, what has MWAA done to UA to backstab them? If UA would commit to the new C/D terminal (and the higher costs) things would be much better.

The C shuttle was ideally located ... what is the purpose for moving it and re-doing ALL signage rather than just adding the new shuttle in the back near the B/D shuttles and just putting up one set of new signs?

Not only have they moved the location of the shuttle that serves the majority of pax, they have also reduced the number of them.

Last Tuesday morning I walked out there and said "...!" (Note - censored by FT again) because ther were no shuttles waiting - none.

An employee skulking around told me that they had reduced the number at that time of day from 5 to 4.

Good question, and I don't think we really know why MWAA did that but there may have been factors in the decision that we're not aware of.

Guess I really meant to ask what else besides this instance has MWAA backstabbed UA at IAD? I don't fly UA much and I'm not aware of anything else.

I also believe MWAA forgets they have people, e.g. human beings who actually need to USE the facility they created. In the end, we are the true end user except they don't even consider us a customer.
- The consolidation of the security lines was an operational bonus to them, but a hardship to those that had to hike the entire length of the terminal. Note that the most consistent flow of people over the course of the day is from the UA counters which are located no where near the current security location.
- Reduction in the shuttle service generally to the remote terminals, also the longer routes needed to go around the digging are not managed well
- Removing signs to the B shuttle option when the tunnel opened and then trumpeting they had severely restricted the B shuttles because no one was using them -- well, there were NO signs giving people an option or telling them of the HIKE they were going to have to take. I still recall passing many people down there that had no business making that walk and would never have done so had they known the shuttle was an option.
to reducing the number of shuttles (I will always love the comment I received
- Taking the cheap route with the moving walkways and escalators that they did bother to install and having a ridiculously high fail rate and mechanic costs to support them.
- Failure to implement moving escalators/walkways that can accomodate the aaverage traveller and their "carry on" luggage. The short escalators in the A terminal are a joke, as are the walkways in the B terminal.
- Failure to actually police their charges at the airport are the same as street pricing when it comes to items like water (which I drink a ton of) -- while not the most expensive, IADs water prices have risen

The list goes on but generally they have treated the passengers who transit the airport pretty poorly. While I use my time at an airport to get needed exercise, the amount of walking at Dulles is often ridiculous for less able-bodied people.

Since this latest "upgrade" of IAD services I seldom go near the UA end of the main terminal. With OLCI for even the international flights that I fly I just get off the economy shuttle at stop 1 or walk from the daily lot through tunnel 2 to the far end of the terminal for security.

Maybe it's part of the grand scheme...

... and neither do I. The stupid coincidence with the move of security was that soon after this change, UA ran a survey of some 1Ks at IAD asking about what they thought of the lobby and changes we'd be interested in around the ticket counters (before they rolled out theri new premier lobby changes). My response was very close to "what ticket counters". Out of sight, out of mind - I rarely needed to go there, but when I do at least the 1K lines are near the edge not at the very (very) far end of the terminal and at least its now a one stop shop for any need but those are UA changes not from MWAA/IAD.

My "rant" as it were is about the impact of changes on the general airport population, not on me personally. I do my best to keep my experience there as stress free as possible.

I understand and agree 100%.

It particularly hacks me off when we (any/all of us) lose ground when "improvements" are made.

One caveat re using the elite line at the far end of the terminal is that it seems to attract more elites (no surprise there) and take a bit more time to process through.

Generally valid points about IAD in general, but I don't see them as an attempt by MWAA to backstab UA as you mentioned which is what I was asking about.

UA pax had it good with the only security checkpoint being right next to the UA counters, now it has been reversed and they're the ones having to go to the other side of the terminal. While UA has about 61% of the overall pax at IAD (per the August 2007 Air Transport World article on IAD) 55% of UA pax are connecting and therefore won't use the security checkpoint. The overall connection percentage at IAD is 30%. If IAD has 25 million overall pax per year, there are about 17.5 million O/D pax. Out of the 17.5 million O/D, 6.9 million are UA pax and 10.6 million fly other airlines. So there are more O/D pax that are not flying UA than are flying UA. I don't see how having the security checkpoint where it is today is an indication of MWAA attempting to backstab UA, especially since the situation was reversed until last year.

The other points are not specific to UA so aren't an indication of MWAA backstabbing UA.

apples and oranges - the first response was specific to MWAAs latest move with regards to UA (movement of C shuttle) but the second rant was generic against how MWAA operates IAD and they don't seem to care much about the people who actually need to use the facility when making their changes.

S'okay with me if we agree to disagree but the shambles of the C/D terminals and some of the design aspects of A cannot entirely be laid at UAs feet, MWAA deserves a piece of it.

Just a note about the new terminal...

Had breakfast at Max & Erma's (which I like in the midwest) - the food at this particular location wasn't very good & the service was fairly poor. I know they are still relatively new, but I just don't think that it was that great...

Saw this note on the MWAA website:

"Austrian Airlines flights will operate at Gates B24 and B26 and South African Airways will operate at Gate B22 in the center portion of Concourse B effective Friday, February 8."

These gates were formerly B6 gates. South African had been sharing B32 with Virgin and Korean. I've noticed a few late South African departures in the past due to Virgin's inbound flight being late.