Any plans to rebuild the UA concourse (C and D gates & UX terminal) at IAD / Dulles?
Oct 16, 2021, 1:18 pm
#631
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Even if they start construction in the next couple years, by the time a new concourse is completed and ready for occupancy, the new PL club will be mostly depreciated. With the total investment needed to construct the new project, the PL amount is a mostly insignificant "drop in the bucket".
Oct 16, 2021, 2:03 pm
#632
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The PL also sits above an expansion of the FIS and the inbound international baggage handling system. All told it is about a $40m investment and the PL is just a part of that.
My expecation is that a replacement of C/D at IAD will be a piecemeal, phased process that will most likely result in the construction of a new concourse stub to the south of the existing C concourse first, followed by an expansion/buildout of Concourse A over the existing low-A gates. This will allow sections of C/D to be taken offline and demolished without a significant loss in gate capacity.
If the project is managed like that, it would be at least a decade from now that the current PL space and C/D FIS might be decommissioned.
My expecation is that a replacement of C/D at IAD will be a piecemeal, phased process that will most likely result in the construction of a new concourse stub to the south of the existing C concourse first, followed by an expansion/buildout of Concourse A over the existing low-A gates. This will allow sections of C/D to be taken offline and demolished without a significant loss in gate capacity.
If the project is managed like that, it would be at least a decade from now that the current PL space and C/D FIS might be decommissioned.
Oct 16, 2021, 9:41 pm
#636
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Oct 17, 2021, 9:25 am
#637
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Apparently, UA and MWAA are in "talks" to replace C/D
https://airlineweekly.com/2021/10/un...urse-upgrades/
October 15, 2021United Airlines and the operator of Washington Dulles International Airport are in talks over a potential multi-billion dollar upgrade that could see the airport’s widely derided Concourse C/D finally replaced.
The project, which Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA) CEO Jack Potter told Airline Weekly is in a “conceptual” phase, would replace the 46-gate C/D facility with a modern structure in phases.
“As proud as we are of Dulles, it was never designed for what it’s doing today,” United CEO Scott Kirby told Airline Weekly earlier in October. The C/D facility was built as two temporary concourses in the mid-1980s and connected near the end of that decade after United established a hub at Dulles. Various crises, including the 1990-91 recession, 9/11 and the Great Recession, limited both the airline and the airport’s ability to replace the concourses.
The works would build on the proposal for a new roughly 535,000-sq.-ft concourse south of the existing Concourse C designed to replace a regional aircraft facility on Concourse A. Virginia environmental authorities signed off on the regional gates replacement in July.
That aging C/D concourse has made Dulles, which is United’s sixth largest hub by both flights and seats, the most in need of a facilities upgrade among its large bases. And almost every other one of its hubs is getting an upgrade: Chicago O’Hare is working on a new Global Terminal and satellite concourses for United; Denver is building new gates and reconfiguring its terminal; Houston Bush Intercontinental is getting a new international terminal; Los Angeles recently approved plans for a new Terminal 9; and United is scheduled to move into at least 10 gates in the new Terminal A at Newark Liberty in April. San Francisco put plans to update Terminal 3, which is home to United’s hub there, on hold during the pandemic and work has yet to resume. Only Guam has no immediate facility update plans.
The issue at Dulles is replacing Concourse C/D economically. Costs have long been an issue with then-United CEO Jeff Smisek saying in 2013 that the airport’s high costs and debt burden made it “more difficult to do business here compared to other hubs.” The average cost per departing passenger at Dulles peaked at $26.55 in 2014 and, through a variety of efforts by MWAA, airlines and Virginia, fell to $14.93 in 2019.
“[We] have to figure out how to do it and not destroy the economics of the hub — they built a beautiful facility in Pittsburgh and there’s no hub there anymore. So we’ve got to do it smartly,” said Kirby echoing Smisek’s sentiment. Pittsburgh opened a midfield terminal designed for a US Airways hub in 1992 only to see the hub close in 2004 due to what the airline said were elevated costs.
Kirby described the discussions with MWAA on a new concourse as “great,” and added that he discussed the potential project with Potter at a meeting in September.
One funding possibility is the pending $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill in Congress. Passed by the Senate but awaiting a vote in the House, the bill provides $25 billion for airports across the U.S. If passed, MWAA could seek funds for a new concourse at Dulles.
“It would help,” Potter said of the possible federal funds at the dedication of new facilities at Washington Reagan National Airport on October 13. But he added that the funding is “about $125 to $150 million per airport and we’re talking about a multi-billion dollar project.”
United has shown no intention to shrink at Dulles. Departures are scheduled to increase nearly 2 percent in October compared to two years ago, though the number of seats are down nearly 8 percent, according to Cirium schedules. And the airline has added — or will add — new nonstop flights to Accra, Ghana, and Lagos, Nigeria, from the airport this year, and plans new service to Berlin and Amman, Jordan, in 2022.
During first seven months of 2021, Dulles handled 6.9 million passengers, a 32 percent increase compared to 2020 but still down 51 percent from two years earlier, according to MWAA data.
Dulles “is the open scene that many people see when they come to the nation’s capital from around the world,” said Kirby. “We’d like to see that improved.”
https://airlineweekly.com/2021/10/un...urse-upgrades/
United Airlines in Talks With Dulles Airport to Make Overdue Concourse Upgrades
Edward RussellOctober 15, 2021United Airlines and the operator of Washington Dulles International Airport are in talks over a potential multi-billion dollar upgrade that could see the airport’s widely derided Concourse C/D finally replaced.
The project, which Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA) CEO Jack Potter told Airline Weekly is in a “conceptual” phase, would replace the 46-gate C/D facility with a modern structure in phases.
“As proud as we are of Dulles, it was never designed for what it’s doing today,” United CEO Scott Kirby told Airline Weekly earlier in October. The C/D facility was built as two temporary concourses in the mid-1980s and connected near the end of that decade after United established a hub at Dulles. Various crises, including the 1990-91 recession, 9/11 and the Great Recession, limited both the airline and the airport’s ability to replace the concourses.
The works would build on the proposal for a new roughly 535,000-sq.-ft concourse south of the existing Concourse C designed to replace a regional aircraft facility on Concourse A. Virginia environmental authorities signed off on the regional gates replacement in July.
That aging C/D concourse has made Dulles, which is United’s sixth largest hub by both flights and seats, the most in need of a facilities upgrade among its large bases. And almost every other one of its hubs is getting an upgrade: Chicago O’Hare is working on a new Global Terminal and satellite concourses for United; Denver is building new gates and reconfiguring its terminal; Houston Bush Intercontinental is getting a new international terminal; Los Angeles recently approved plans for a new Terminal 9; and United is scheduled to move into at least 10 gates in the new Terminal A at Newark Liberty in April. San Francisco put plans to update Terminal 3, which is home to United’s hub there, on hold during the pandemic and work has yet to resume. Only Guam has no immediate facility update plans.
The issue at Dulles is replacing Concourse C/D economically. Costs have long been an issue with then-United CEO Jeff Smisek saying in 2013 that the airport’s high costs and debt burden made it “more difficult to do business here compared to other hubs.” The average cost per departing passenger at Dulles peaked at $26.55 in 2014 and, through a variety of efforts by MWAA, airlines and Virginia, fell to $14.93 in 2019.
“[We] have to figure out how to do it and not destroy the economics of the hub — they built a beautiful facility in Pittsburgh and there’s no hub there anymore. So we’ve got to do it smartly,” said Kirby echoing Smisek’s sentiment. Pittsburgh opened a midfield terminal designed for a US Airways hub in 1992 only to see the hub close in 2004 due to what the airline said were elevated costs.
Kirby described the discussions with MWAA on a new concourse as “great,” and added that he discussed the potential project with Potter at a meeting in September.
One funding possibility is the pending $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill in Congress. Passed by the Senate but awaiting a vote in the House, the bill provides $25 billion for airports across the U.S. If passed, MWAA could seek funds for a new concourse at Dulles.
“It would help,” Potter said of the possible federal funds at the dedication of new facilities at Washington Reagan National Airport on October 13. But he added that the funding is “about $125 to $150 million per airport and we’re talking about a multi-billion dollar project.”
United has shown no intention to shrink at Dulles. Departures are scheduled to increase nearly 2 percent in October compared to two years ago, though the number of seats are down nearly 8 percent, according to Cirium schedules. And the airline has added — or will add — new nonstop flights to Accra, Ghana, and Lagos, Nigeria, from the airport this year, and plans new service to Berlin and Amman, Jordan, in 2022.
During first seven months of 2021, Dulles handled 6.9 million passengers, a 32 percent increase compared to 2020 but still down 51 percent from two years earlier, according to MWAA data.
Dulles “is the open scene that many people see when they come to the nation’s capital from around the world,” said Kirby. “We’d like to see that improved.”
Oct 17, 2021, 2:27 pm
#638
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The fact that they're even acknowledging talking about the replacement is a step forward and a good sign, IMHO, even if groundbreaking is a ways off (aside from the new RJ terminal, which we might see start construction "soon"-ish given VA approved it this year).
Apr 2, 2022, 11:05 am
#639
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Dulles plans new commuter concourse for United
https://www.washingtonpost.com/trans...ter-concourse/
It looks like the days of Concourse A are numbered. It will not be missed.
Dulles International Airport officials this week announced plans for a new 14-gate concourse that would replace an existing concourse used primarily for commuter and regional flights. Airport officials estimate the new concourse will cost between $500 million to $800 million. The project would be the most significant upgrade at Dulles in more than a decade.
Apr 2, 2022, 11:44 am
#641
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Maybe good, maybe not. The "proposed concourse would move to atop an existing AeroTrain stop" which means the C Station (i.e., the one where you get off and walk back 500 feet or so to the C Terminal right now). That station was built at the expected (and long, long overdue) new midfield C/D Terminal. If this commuter section is built as the end of a someday new terminal, then great. If it's built as if it'll be the only terminal at that location, then there is no hope for a decent United mainline terminal like the current A/B everybody-else terminal.
Apr 2, 2022, 1:02 pm
#642
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Maybe good, maybe not. The "proposed concourse would move to atop an existing AeroTrain stop" which means the C Station (i.e., the one where you get off and walk back 500 feet or so to the C Terminal right now). That station was built at the expected (and long, long overdue) new midfield C/D Terminal. If this commuter section is built as the end of a someday new terminal, then great. If it's built as if it'll be the only terminal at that location, then there is no hope for a decent United mainline terminal like the current A/B everybody-else terminal.
Apr 2, 2022, 2:13 pm
#645
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