qfrodo

Thanks for the pics above, catocony. My dad worked for the Budd company for years and was involved in the design, testing, and fabrication of the original mobile lounges. However, he never had set foot in one until I was working at Dulles back in the 90s. You are correct that the ones that lift up and down (with the "stacks" in the roof) are the original. They are also referred to as plane mates.

QS Dreamer

Article from Saturday's Post about the progress IAD has made in gaining share. Talks about United agreement and that they won't look to replace the "temporary" C/D terminal until they get 30 million passengers a year.

IAD Bounces Back

seenitall

Yeah, I saw that article, too. The problem is, IAD is just at 24 million pax right now. So crowding needs to become 25% worse before there even will be planning for a replacement. Now that is really depressing.

ConstellationClass

As a fan of IAD itself, it's a nice piece with some welcome news. But I agree that it's a bit discouraging to realize just how distant is the dream of a new C/D concourse.

Often1

At least you can take the Aerotrain to the "C" stop and stand for a minute in the location where the new concourse will someday be built.

entropy

Yes, IAD is a dump (C/D).

At the end of the day, does it really matter *that* much? (Compared to spending billions on a new concourse?)
Its not like the facility is unusable, or will be expanded to increase capacity. The United clubs will probably be more or less the same either way...

drewguy

Yeah, the kicker is United may say after enplanements increase 6m (not all theirs necessarily) - "hey, 6mm more pax went out of this dump than 5 years ago - why should we bother replacing it?!?"

UAL250

IAD is nice if you just walk to B (you can take the train too, but walking is nicer for me) from the main terminal, spend your time there, and then take the train to C/D just before boarding so your time there is minimized. This is what I do every time there.

goodeats21

If that is possible with available time, sure. I have spent time in B as well....LH lounge, TK lounge, even just walking around.

But when you are stuck in C/D due to rolling delays or not enough time to comfortably get over to B, IAD is a depressing pit. And the United Clubs are no better.

haddon90

i don't mind C/D. there have been significant improvements to the bar/restaurant situation. agreed about both LH/TK. i go there ALL the time.

Kmxu

When weather is bad in EWR, you would wish to have a connection at IAD, instead. As long as I have enough connection time to go to TK/LH lounge, I will be a happy camper. Concourse C/D does not bother me as much as the UA Concourse A gates (EWR Concourse A, too).

Artpen100

I had the same reaction. I could not imagine putting 7 million more passengers through dingy, crowded C/D and its packed UA lounges. That would make it SRO, and already there are times you have to push your way through multiple boarding lines as you walk down the hallway. However, I wonder if they could use A/B more. Right now, there are the UA express out of A in the morning and the international flights in the evening, but I have never seen A/B anywhere near as crowded as C/D (save in the TK lounge).

JimInOhio

I think you put more passengers through IAD by UA having more connection banks.

skidooman

Well, IAD sees a great future when the # of passengers will be north of 30M but I doubt they see that future coming only from United. Or at least not prompted by United.

Maybe they will get more international flights... that will go to A/B. If they are *A, then maybe United will find within their heart to do code shares, then increase the # of domestic flights.

But since C/D is pretty crowded, I assume they won't be able to do this much. So, eventually, either

1- They take over a few gate in A/B

2- They get a much larger terminal

We all know that the go-to East hub is EWR. The problem is that it is EWR. Frankly, I am in Boston and I am trying to avoid EWR as much as possible. Too often, I get rude service, lunching there is pricey and quality did not improve accordingly, and ever since they put retails in the middle of the alleywards I find it as crowded at IAD. And EWR is prone to delays in my experience. Despite the lesser facilities I still opt for IAD when I can.

goodeats21

I have come to appreciate EWR A terminal quite a bit. Once past the incredibly bad TSA there, the United Club is nice, rarely crowded, and it is a 30 second walk to any of the A gates.
The A gates at IAD are crappy, and no where to escape without significant time to get to LH/TK lounge and back.

I do agree the reliability at EWR is worse than IAD, which is a major consideration.