changes coming UA DCA
 

I hope people like the old historic terminal at DCA, I heard that UA will be transitioning its operation over to the CO gate area at DCA in the border of A and B....

Naturally the UA RCC would close and the lounge would be what is currently the CO presidents club...... interesting anything have any thoughts or views on this or heard anything different?

"I heard..."

What was your source? I've heard a lot in the last year about the possibilities and the possibilities have been many. If a decision has been made, and final, and agreed to, by the airport authority and UA, we ought to know your source. Otherwise this is just more hearsay and nothing is final.

well the CO PC is 100 times better than the RCC albeit small

i am guessing with DL and US swapping slots at LGA and DCA, that DL may abandon the gate it shares with AS and UA will take that entire "wing" - UA would need at least one more gate over there...

:td: I hope not. While the B terminal is nice in that 'wing', it's a longer walk than the other parts of the B terminal. Plus, with the combined operations (DCA-ORD/DEN/EWR/IAH/CLE), it'll be pretty cramped in that terminal wing. Having it in the bigger B terminal where UA currently is makes more sense.

Ditto. Distances are a problem there -- to the gates, and to baggage claim and ground transportation. For anyone in and out of this airport a lot, this would be a major downgrade for UA, in my mind.

Source?

Moving the gate 500 meters away is a "major downgrade" here? Seriously?

Meh. As long as they keep up the hourly flights to ORD, I don't really care which terminal it's in. As long as it keeps me away from IAD, I'm happy. :D

I too would be interested in the source, but if this is true it's a major ^^

For those worried about the size of the Pclub, keep in mind that the room originally extended a good bit further and was divided to create the "exhibition gallery" above the historic terminal. No reason I can think of that they can't break down that wall and take over the entire original footprint.

If true, I'm excited for two reasons:
1) The Pclub is very cool while the RCC is just a space.
2) The MWAA is still prominently displaying their intention to restore the historic terminal gate area to working status. If you poke your face up to the door on the left hand side of the historic terminal, you'll notice that it's about five feet from there to the first CO gate. So if it happens, UACO would be the most likely occupant by just expanding outward a touch...which would be pretty cool if you ask me.

I don't know that the gate-to-x differences are really that much longer in terms of time.

UA is all the way down at the end of that "pod" and there's no moving walkway. On the other hand the B "wing" has a moving walkway and isn't that much farther physically. Plus the lounge-to-gate distance is actually much shorter from the Pclub stairs to the CO gates than from the RCC to the UA gates.

everybody wants the source ...

The source is a reliable one and is within the United system that is tied with Global Services. However, nothing offical has been announced yet.

I think it is prettly likely and was not surprised when i heard. I think it would be kinda cool if there was a star alliance terminal at DCA I hate the UASAIRWAYS EXPRESS setup at DCA.

I wanna say United only has 3 gates at DCA i usually flight out of IAD, but i prefer DCA as an airport:)

I like the larger planes that are flown in and out of IAD. I would like to see an improvement in service on DCA to ORD too..

Yes.

One major advantage of DCA is the ability to get from curbside to kiosk to security to gate in less than 10 minutes. A few years ago I lived a couple of metro stops from DCA. I could literally leave my house 1 hour before the flight, walk to the metro and ride to the airport, arriving about 45 minutes before the flight, and stroll up to the gate 30-35 minutes before the flight right as boarding started.

Granted, the extra distance to the CO gates is only a few minutes walk. But DCA is a great airport due to its convenient layout & location, and reliable flight operations. Moving to the CO gates starts to nibble away at one of those.

Yeah, those 3 minutes are really a killer. Definitely a major downgrade. :rolleyes:

Oh, and the 500 meters is from the security entrance at the current UA pier to the entrance of the PClub all the way at the end. It would be shorter if you were counting the length of that UA pier, about 120m worth.

I will say this the President's Club is really nice and in a historical location where the airport's main restaurant used to be. There wasn't anything per-se wrong with the RRC there, but nothing special. (And it came in handy a few months back when I had a US Airways flight flying out of that pier).

So to be able to keep the President's Club in DCA, I think it's a great move for UA to move down by the CO gates.

I don't think its 5 minutes, its about 2. Its irrelevant.

Personally, I think the PClub there is the coolest and most unique in the system (and for historical purposes). They may need more space, and perhaps they can drag a cappuccino machine from the the RCC...

lol....... though i think we will run into gate space issues. :eek: