At Dulles Airport, Arrival of the Fittest New Facility Speeds Passenger Processing

by James T. Yenckel

Sunday, March 31, 1991

Until this month, arriving at Dulles International Airport after a nine- or 10-hour transatlantic flight could be an exasperating experience. The cramped and overcrowded arrival facility was able to handle only about 600 arriving passengers an hour during peak periods, and that often meant long lines and testy travelers. Now the airport's new $34.5-million International Arrivals Building is open, a structure that is four times as big as the old area and that can process up to 1,600 passengers an hour. That means less stress for travelers.

It also means there's room to breathe even when several jumbo jets arrive at the same time. And there is room to expand to 2,400 arriving passengers an hour as the number of international flights grows.

The result is that Dulles now can speed most arriving passengers through immigration, baggage claim and customs in half the time it used to take, says Cathy Kirby of the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority.

Passengers accustomed to a tight squeeze should be delighted by the roominess of the new facility. But there are other noticeable improvements:

More carousels. The number of baggage carousels in operation has been doubled from two to four, a fifth carousel is under construction, and space is available to add a sixth if needed. Baggage retrieval was the biggest bottleneck in the old building, says Kirby, because there weren't enough carousels to keep up with the pace of arriving flights during peak periods.

More baggage carts. Dulles has invested in a huge new fleet of baggage carts, which line both walls of the baggage-claim area, and more are already stored for future use. There is no charge for using the carts, and they can be wheeled from the baggage-claim area into the main terminal or as far as the sidewalk outside the main exits. Previously, the number of available carts was limited, and they could not be taken beyond the arrivals area.

Greeters lobby, a special, reasonably spacious room with seating where you can wait for arriving passengers. In the past, no such waiting lounge was provided. If you were meeting someone, you had to stand in the main baggage-claim area. This often resulted in congestion and confusion, now ameliorated.

Tip: The closest parking (just across the roadway) to the arrivals building is Row 5 and Row 6 in the hourly lot at the west end of the terminal. The old arrivals building was at the east end of the terminal.

The International Arrivals Building is the most significant of the projects completed so far in a massive $1.5 billion capital improvements project underway both at Dulles and Washington National. The building was dedicated Feb. 26 and officially opened Feb. 28. Also included in the Dulles plan are more parking (already provided), new midfield terminals, an improved roadway network and an expanded main terminal. Washington National is getting a new main terminal and more parking.

Opened in 1962, Dulles initially was considered a "sleeping giant" because it attracted so few flights and passengers. But the volume surged in the '80s, and Dulles currently is handling about 10 million passengers annually -- 1.3 million of whom arrive or depart on international flights. The airport is seen as playing an increasingly important role on the East Coast because it has room to grow.

In 1990, the number of international passengers using Dulles increased by 18.4 percent, a rate airport officials say is three times the national average. It is the fifth-busiest U.S. gateway to Europe. Until the new building opened, however, no new transatlantic flights could be added during peak hours because of the limited capacity of the old facility.

Currently, 14 airlines offer a total of 120 international flights out of Dulles -- double the number of flights two years ago. Another 51 weekly departures are scheduled for the near future, including United Airlines's new nonstop to Madrid beginning June 1. And 62 more weekly departures are in the planning stage.

The international carriers now serving Dulles are Aeroflot, Air France, All Nippon Airways, American Airlines, British Airways, Business Express (Canada), Japan Air Lines, Ladeco (Chile), Lufthansa, Pan American World Airways, Saudi Arabian Airlines, TACA International Airlines (El Salvador), Trans World Airlines and United Airlines.

As international service out of Dulles grows -- especially across the Atlantic -- Washington-area travelers are spared the inconvenience of a change of planes at New York's busy John F. Kennedy International, where runway delays are notorious.

Arriving back at Dulles' new building also should prove to be a lot less stressful than JFK's usually harried welcome home.

If you are planning a trip abroad, here's what to expect when you fly back into Dulles:

From the plane, the airport's fleet of mobile lounges will transport you to the International Arrivals Building. The new facility has nine mobile lounge gates, five more than the former structure. The gates open at the second floor of the two-story structure into a single vast, brightly lighted room that looks polished and gleaming. The basic color is white; counters and sign boards are black and the floor is gray terrazzo.

The subliminal message is high-tech efficiency, but weary travelers may find the initial impression also surprisingly cheery. A big help are skylights that do a nice job of opening the room to the sun. Airport officials wanted to make the initial step into the United States an attractive one, and it is. Displays of America's scenic and historic attractions are to be installed, adding touches of color.

Restrooms, water fountains and a bank of telephones are located in the entry area, if you have to make a stop before processing through immigration. In this, Dulles seems clearly to have anticipated the traveler's needs. Several walk-up counters also are in the area with extra customs declaration forms if you misplaced the one handed out in the plane. The forms are printed in several languages to aid foreign visitors.

Immediately ahead is a bank of 21 immigration gates -- 10 more then previously -- and the number can expand to 31 as future traffic demands. Signs point foreigners and U.S. citizens to separate desks. Passports will be screened by computers that utilize a data base shared by the Immigration and Naturalization Service, U.S. Customs, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Interpol.

Passport checking is the initial stage of an entry process called the Interagency Border Inspection System, designed to speed up immigration, customs and agricultural clearances by as much as 50 percent, according to officials. More about the system later.

Beyond the immigration gates are the four baggage carousels and plenty of luggage carts. If all goes according to plan, your luggage will have been transferred to the carousels while you were proceeding through immigration. The bags are carried from the plane to the first floor of the arrival building and lifted by conveyer belt to the baggage-claim area.

In the midst of the carousels is a mysterious gazebo-like structure made of glass: the Rover Coordination Center. It performs an important role in the interagency inspection system, with customs officials hidden behind one-way windows keeping a watch on the crowd. Their job, according to the U.S. Customs Service, is to "single out suspicious individuals for special examination." Meanwhile, they maintain radio contact with plain clothes inspectors (rovers) who are in the baggage area mingling with the passengers.

Travelers who have nothing to declare to Customs and who are not tapped by a rover can depart the customs area without waiting in line to answer questions or open baggage for inspection. Under the old system at Dulles, every passenger had to answer at least a few standard questions -- which often meant standing in a long line. If you are declaring purchases or have been tapped by a rover, there are 13 gates available for baggage inspection.

As a part of these procedures, the Customs Service says it employs what it calls a "high-low" systems. This means that it makes a more stringent surveillance of passengers arriving from countries where the potential for drug smuggling is high.

Also within the customs area is the Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, which has an X-ray machine to check selected luggage for plants and animal products that could be carrying foreign pests and diseases. If you have been on a farm holiday abroad, for example, your baggage probably will be examined.

At this point, you are officially in the United States. A wide corridor leads from the arrivals building to the greeters lobby, and you can wheel your luggage on a cart the entire distance. Along the way, passengers who are continuing on domestic flights deposit their luggage at the re-check counter. Also, there is a baggage service office representing all the international carriers. Here is where you report lost or missing luggage. And at the end of the corridor, a currency exchange booth is available.

In the greeters lobby, another booth operated by the Foreign Visitors Greeting Service can provide foreign language help in many languages. And skycaps are waiting if you want help to the parking lot, although you can keep your cart. A sharp double left down a second corridor will lead you to the sidewalk across from the hourly parking lot. Or you can wheel your cart forward to the main terminal.

"The skycaps don't like it," says Kirby, although the airport does have a contract with them to return the luggage carts to the arrivals building.

Of course, a fancy facility is no promise that you won't be delayed along the way with immigration or customs difficulties. But for the time being, any waiting you have to do will be in spacious rather than crowded conditions.

Architecturally, the new arrivals building is an unobtrusive structure that is all but hidden from view. The design was intentional so that the facility would not detract from the beauty of the main terminal, a recognized masterpiece by architect Eero Saarinen. It is located at the west end of the terminal -- the side you first approach as you drive toward the airport entrances. As you head up the "departures" ramp, all that is visible on your right is the roof of the building and its skylights.

As a part of the Dulles improvement project, Saarinen's main terminal, now 600 feet in length, will be expanded at each end to bring it to a total of 1,240 feet. Airport officials say this will provide more space for the baggage claim area on the ground floor and more ticket counters and retail sales space on the main level. The west side will be extended first, with completion due in the mid-1990s. The east side is expected to be finished by the end of the decade.

There is no question that the bright new arrivals buildings is a more enjoyable end to a long flight. Travelers can only hope that the people who staff it -- immigration, customs and agriculture -- will be as reasonably pleasant as their often demanding jobs permit them to be. Then you can end your trip with a smile instead of a grumble.

Security Shifts Curbside check-in for domestic flights, banned following the outbreak of war in the Persian Gulf, is returning to the nation's airports.

The Department of Transportation announced the lifting of the ban on Friday, although it is up to the individual airlines to decide if and when they will resume curbside check-in.

Another security measure imposed as a result of the war remains in effect. For the time being, only passengers with tickets can proceed past the screening gate. The restriction will be reviewed continually, according to a department press release, with the intent of removing it as quickly as possible.

The decision to permit curbside check-in was attributed to experience gained since the ban was instituted on Jan. 17. "This is not a return to business as usual," said James B. Busey, who heads the Federal Aviation Administration. "Aviation security will remain at its current high level."

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