Dulles International Airport has emerged as the latest target of President Donald Trump’s bid to remake the architecture of the nation’s capital.
Even as the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA) pursues billions of dollars in capital projects, including a new concourse slated to open next fall, the U.S. Department of Transportation began soliciting proposals yesterday (Tuesday) from developers, architects and engineers to redesign airport just outside Fairfax County.
“Tourists, world leaders, and CEOs from around the world should not be forced to travel through an inefficient airport when they visit D.C.,” Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said. “IAD needs a complete refresh to assume its proper role as the premier international gateway into the capital of the greatest country in the world. We’re engaging the private sector to explore how we can do this cost effectively and at the speed of Trump.”
USDOT is seeking design and construction plans for new terminals and concourses that build on or fully replace the existing ones at Dulles Airport, which it claims is “dated” and in “a state of disrepair.”
Issues that mark Dulles as “no longer an airport suitable and grand enough for the capital of the United States of America” include a “jet fuel smell” that supposedly pervades the concourses, the “paltry number of gates at the main terminal” and the mobile lounges still used to transport passengers, according to a released request for information.
“Ideas should be bold, creative, and uncompromising. Americans deserve a big, beautiful new airport for the Nation’s capital,” the document says.
Existing capital projects plan ‘insufficient,’ USDOT says
USDOT acknowledged that MWAA is already working on updates for the 1960s-era airport but argued that they’re “insufficient,” taking particular issue with the expectation that the mobile lounges will remain in use for at least next 15 to 20 years.
Often referred to as “people movers,” the mobile lounges have shuttled passengers between the main terminal and the concourses where most gates are located since Dulles opened in 1962. While MWAA has expanded its underground AeroTrain system over the years, the mobile lounges are expected to transport 11 million passengers this year.
In the wake of crashes on Nov. 10 and 19 that resulted in injuries, MWAA President and CEO Jack Potter told the regional authority’s board of directors that there are “long-term limitations” to relying on the people movers, but they will likely remain integral to Dulles Airport’s operations for the foreseeable future.
MWAA has a contract with the Pennsylvania firm Brookville for a full overhaul of the mobile lounges, with new engines, transmissions, HVAC systems and safety equipment. Ratified by MWAA’s board in 2023, the contract could be worth up to $160 million if all vehicles are rehabilitated.
As of September, MWAA officials anticipated receiving a prototype for testing in late 2026.
The new Concourse E, however, will be accessible by AeroTrain. Under construction since late 2023, the approximately $580 million project is adding 14 new gates for United Airlines, the airport’s largest carrier, with expanded capacity for international flights and additional retail and amenity space.
The new concourse represents the first phase of a nearly $7 billion plan approved in March 2023 for future capital projects at Dulles Airport, including new airport gate, parking and security facilities, road improvements, and expansions or reconstructions of its runways and taxiways. The MWAA board also approved a new master plan in July that projects Dulles will reach 90 million passengers per year before the end of this century.
In its request for information from developers, USDOT said it’s seeking proposals “developed independently” from MWAA’s current capital improvement program and master plan, but the department indicated in a press release that it will “work closely with the airport authority to implement” the resulting designs.
USDOT didn’t return a request for comment on how it will coordinate with MWAA. However, an MWAA spokesperson said the authority “appreciates the administration’s interest in making improvements to” Dulles Airport.
“We look forward to seeing the results of the U.S. Department of Transportation’s request for information and working collaboratively with the administration,” the spokesperson said in a written statement. “We always embrace new ideas for Dulles, which is the fastest growing international gateway airport in America (year-over-year through September YTD). We want to build on the existing $7 billion capital plan for Dulles, which is underway with a new concourse under construction and expected to open next fall.”
The request for information hasn’t been formally published in the Federal Register, as of press time, but once it is, developers will have 45 days to submit proposals.
Trump criticizes Dulles Airport’s design
As a bill proposing to rename Dulles Airport after him languishes in a House subcommittee, the proposed rebuild continues President Donald Trump’s campaign to overhaul D.C.-area landmarks and federal buildings.
Already juggling plans for a ballroom in place of the White House’s now-demolished East Wing, a triumphal arch across from the Lincoln Memorial, and Kennedy Center renovations, among other projects, the second-term president told Cabinet members in a meeting yesterday that his administration is “going to rebuild Dulles airport because it’s not a good airport.”
“It should be a great airport, and it’s not a good airport at all. It’s a terrible airport,” Trump said, according to the Associated Press.
Trump, a former real estate mogul, said the Dulles building is good but that it was “incorrectly designed.” He nonetheless praised Eero Saarinen, the Finnish-American architect who designed the main terminal at Dulles.
“We’re going to turn that around and we’re going to make Dulles airport — serving Washington and Virginia, Maryland, etc. — we’re gonna make that into something really spectacular,” he said. “We have an amazing plan for it.”
His motorcade took an unannounced drive through the terminal at Dulles in early November. At the time, the White House said Trump wanted to take the detour to the airport to assess potential future projects.
Still, some experts questioned the substance of Trump’s Dulles remarks.
Sheldon H. Jacobson, an airport security and aviation infrastructure expert whose research contributed to the design of TSA PreCheck, called the president’s announcement a “head-scratcher,” noting it comes amid substantial modernization work already underway at Dulles.
“I can think of a lot higher priorities right now,” he said, pointing to the long-needed updates to the nation’s aging air traffic control equipment. Trump said Tuesday that his administration was also working on modernizing the air traffic control system.
Jacobson said the airport’s continued reliance on people movers remains a “glaring weakness,” but added that “there are a lot of things actually in very good shape at Dulles right now,” including the AeroTrain.
“I’m not sure what he’s thinking,” Jacobson said of Trump. “His comments are non sequitur to the reality of this airport.”
