DULLES PLANS TO BUILD A PERMANENT MIDFIELD TERMINAL BY 1997

by Stephen C. Fehr

Thursday, May 25, 1995

Dulles International Airport passengers would be using a permanent, 12-gate midfield terminal by the summer of 1997 under a plan tentatively approved by the airport board of directors last week.

Board members failed, however, to reach a consensus on what type of rail system should be built to replace the "mobile lounges" that now shuttle passengers between the main terminal and the midfield building. Last year, the board endorsed a subway that would follow a loop around the airport, but airlines prefer a cheaper system that would travel in a straight line between the center of the main terminal and the midfield buildings.

Airport officials view the start of construction on the permanent midfield terminal as a milestone in Dulles's $1 billion redevelopment program. Passengers currently use a temporary midfield terminal, which houses United, American, Continental, TWA, ValuJet and other airlines.

That building will remain open in 1997 but eventually will be replaced by another permanent terminal about 500 feet away as part of Dulles' plan to become an airport designed around a main terminal and a series of midfield buildings. The 12-gate terminal that is supposed to open in two years would be about 1,200 feet south of the main terminal and eventually would be expanded to 44 gates.

Without the additional 12 international and domestic gates, "Dulles will be severely limited in its ability to accommodate new or expanded service," airport planner William Spaeth told the board's planning committee at its meeting last Thursday.

The planning committee's approval of the 12-gate expansion is likely to be endorsed by the full board of the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority at its June 7 meeting.

Bids are scheduled to be solicited this summer, and construction could begin this fall, officials said. The extension of the main terminal, which is underway now, is supposed to be completed in 1997 as well.

But the airlines currently serving Dulles are questioning whether there will be enough use of the permanent midfield terminal to justify its construction. The airlines pass on a $3 a ticket passenger facility charge that will pay for the bulk of the $187.5 million project, and they are committed to paying for other expansion at Dulles.

"There is no commitment from anyone to use those gates," said Richard P. Dei Tos Jr., executive director of the Metropolitan Washington Airlines Committee, which represents airlines at National and Dulles airports. "They're building something before the demand is there. We need to find out what the demand is first."

With the planned opening of six additional gates at the temporary midfield terminal next month, Dei Tos said, the airport has adequate space for planes.

He also said airlines are reluctant to support the 12-gate terminal until they know the cost of the subway system and other aspects of the terminal.

"It's a question of timing for us," he said.

Airport officials disagree. They said that although the airlines currently at Dulles may oppose the expansion at this time, there are other carriers that might be attracted to Dulles if the airport had enough gates to accommodate them. Unlike National Airport, where flights and land are limited, Dulles has virtually unlimited room to grow and increase operations. Dulles set a record last year with 11.5 million passengers.

James A. Wilding, general manager of the airport authority, said the master plan for a 150-gate complex at Dulles -- compared with 44 gates at National -- calls for building in increments of 12 or 15 permanent gates at a time.

During the next 20 years, he said, the airport authority will be planning, building and financing midfield terminals at Dulles.

"It's almost a continuous process," he said, adding that the demand for additional gates would be met by 1997.

As it is now, airport officials said, some airlines cannot get into Dulles' gates during busy periods of the day, forcing them to unload passengers directly from the plane to mobile lounges. The shuttles then take passengers to the main terminal, forcing many of them to return to the midfield terminal to make connections to other flights.

"We have a problem of always playing catch-up," said board member Daniel S. Alcorn, of Virginia. "We have an opportunity here to be ahead of the curve. I understand the airlines' financial condition, but we're not building a Denver {International Airport} here."

Under the plan approved by the committee, the permanent midfield terminal could accommodate as many as 24 small narrow-body planes and 12 wide-body jets. It would be built on two levels, with a glass "curtain wall" that would allow sunlight into the concourse. The building would be 142 feet wide, compared with about 90 feet at the temporary midfield, allowing moving walkways down the center.

Corridors would be included on each side to permit passengers arriving on international flights to walk to the mobile lounges to be taken to customs at the main terminal. Some consideration is being given to building a new customs checkpoint at the midfield terminal itself.

Mobile lounges would be used until a rail system is built.

The board agreed to meet at a retreat in June to decide the route of the system, which some board members want to be in place within five years. CAPTION: The 12-gate midfield terminal planned by Dulles Airport, as envisioned in this sketch, would be about 1,200 feet south of the main terminal and eventually would be expanded to 44 gates.

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