CHAT: Dulles Executive Answers Reader Questions

By LoudounExtra.com staff

Originally published at 2:41 a.m., November 10, 2007
Updated at 12:09 p.m., November 13, 2007

Christopher Browne, vice president and airport manager for Washington Dulles International Airport, took questions from readers of LoudounExtra.com Tuesday morning during an online chat.

The hour-long chat began at 11 a.m. The transcript of the chat is available below.

Browne discussed everything from the airport's current operations to its growth and plans for the future.

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Centreville, Va.: I work in the air cargo industry at Dulles Airport. We are excited about the continuing expansion of facilities and addition of carriers. The only thing that seems to be missing is road network improvements to Dulles. Is MWAA involved in transportation planning, specifically Route 606? Between 50-606-28, sometimes it's just a big ring of traffic not going anywhere.

Christopher Browne: The Airports Authority is currently completing an expansion project of our roadways entering and leaving the airport. This should improve access to all our airport facilities and parking lots. In the broader picture, we are working with local authorities and the Commonwealth of Virginia on future improvements to Route 606 and surrounding regional roadways.

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Bethesda, Md.: In the past I have heard a number of comments from the BWI management team about competition and about the differences between BWI and the two MWAA airports. What are your thoughts?

Christopher Browne: We believe that the Washington region benefits from having excellent air service provided by all three area airports. Dulles is the region's international airport in terms of choice of destinations and air carriers and exceeds the national aviation growth rates.

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Ashburn, Va.: IAD to Beijing is great. How about IAD to India direct? What are the efforts you are taking to encourage airlines to increase their international operations originating from IAD?

Christopher Browne: We are very pleased with our China service and we continue to seek new international destinations including India. In the meantime it is possible to make one-stop connections to India from Dulles on several of our international carriers

Christopher Browne

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Dulles, Va.: Only 20 minutes of free parking to go in and pick up an incoming passenger? It takes 10 minutes each way to walk in from the hinterlands where we're allowed to park. How about an hour free?

Christopher Browne: We do offer 20 minutes of free parking in all of our commercial lots and garages but we encourage patrons who need more time to use our free cell phone waiting area where you are only a phone call away from picking up your passenger.

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Leesburg, Va.: At the security check-in lines, there is an expedited option for "premium" customers. To use this line, do you need to have a first-class ticket or simply status with one of the airlines? Thank you for the clarification.

Christopher Browne: The airlines determine who is eligible to use the Premier line. It is generally used by first class and frequent flyer customers. Please check with your airline to find out more.

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Washington D.C.: What is the current expected completion date for the underground rail/people-movers being constructed? Will the mobile lounges be completely taken out of service?

Christopher Browne: We expect to open the new airport underground people mover system, which is called AeroTrain, in 2009. It will be a great improvement for our customers. The mobile lounges will always be part of our Dulles transportation system to serve international arriving passengers who must have secure conveyance to the International Arrivals Building. We also use the lounges to serve passengers on aircraft that do not park at gates.

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Arlington, Va.: Is there any chance that the Red Sox World Series trophy will be coming through the airport? I remember two years ago it came through National and most regular people like me never knew anything about it. Thanks!

Christopher Browne: We were honored to host the Red Sox Team during their visit to the White House after winning the 2004 World Series. We hope very much to again be the venue for this great team. By the way, I'm a third generation Red Sox fan.

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Washington, D.C.: The flights available from IAD are great, which is why I often use it. However, the food choices are far from great, especially by comparison with DCA. Do you have plans to upgrade the food choices, along the lines of DCA (and many other airports, including PDX, SEA, SFO and on and on)?

Christopher Browne: We've recently completed an effort to improve our food offerings at Dulles. We've introduced local brands like Five Guys and Harry's as well as national offerings like Subway and Potbelly's. We will continue this effort when we open the expansion of Concourse B early next year. We do know that travelers who use Concourse C and D have fewer offerings because of that facility's constraints. We continue to look for opportunities to bring on additional pleasing choices.

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Prince George's, Md.: It was disappointing to learn that MAXjet pulled out of Dulles. They provided a great alternative when traveling to Europe. Why do you think MAXjet pulled out of Dulles? There are also rumors that Virgin America is looking at an East Coast focus city. Do you envision Virgin America growing at Dulles?

Christopher Browne: Airlines take into account many factors when determining what market to serve and how often. We were sorry to see MAXjet leave and defer to their corporate headquarters to address the reason. However, we encourage you to consider using several of our other carriers at Dulles that offer frequent and competitive service to the UK.

With respect to Virgin America they currently serve the west coast four times a day from Dulles and we look forward to their future expansion here.

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Reston, Va.: Will the 25 mph speed limit from Herndon to the terminal ever be lifted? Sometimes it seems like the drive from Reston to National takes less time.

Christopher Browne: Some of the driving speed limits have been adjusted to accommodate our construction on the airport roadways and will be re-evaluated upon completion of the current work.

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Dulles, Va.: You answered earlier that the food choices would be upgraded. That's good, but what about the restaurant options on THIS SIDE of security, when we may being seeing someone off, but not traveling ourselves. National Airport has several restaurants on the public side of security; Dulles has few.

Christopher Browne: The Dulles terminal today is very space limited by the current configuration, which must accommodate ticket counters and TSA security screening checkpoints. We were pleased to be able to open Harry's Tap Room pre-security and hope to be able to add more concessions once the new security mezzanine and train station open, which will free up more terminal space.

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Oakton, Va.: Can you be more specific about the expected date for the new people-mover system? 2009 is a big window, even just the quarter would be helpful. It seems like these projects are always "12 to 18 months away" and just get postponed with no clear completion date to get held accountable to.

Christopher Browne: We anticipate operating the AeroTrain system the third or fourth quarter of 2009. Much depends on the completion of testing of the automated systems. We will continue to provide updates as work progresses.

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New York, N.Y.: I am trying to understand how there can be delays even when the weather is good. I am told that delays in other cities can affect the rest of the country in that only so many planes can fly along routes at the same time. Exactly how does that work: Who gets priority to get into the routes and how easily may these routes get clogged?

Christopher Browne: Flights are affected not only by weather at the departing airport but also by weather at the arriving airport. In addition, flights are affected by weather along their route of travel. The result is that the air traffic controllers are constantly rerouting traffic throughout the country, which impacts schedules of the airlines. It is also a fact that the volume of air traffic continues to grow and this creates further challenges for the demand for airspace.

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Falls Church, Va.: The Cell Phone Waiting Area suffers from atrocious signage. To get to the waiting area, a driver is expected to head all the way out of the airport onto the access road, trusting that there will be a way back into the airport. The driver then has to pass one or more exits that have no signs about the waiting area. Finally, at the exit for the waiting area the only sign pointing to the waiting area is halfway down the exit ramp, rather than before it. In other words, the driver approaching the exit has no idea whether to turn unless she peers halfway down the ramp, and if she makes the wrong guess, she's trapped on the access road back to Washington, with no way back to the airport. If you really expect people to trek that far out of the way to wait, you have to do a better job of pointing the way.

Christopher Browne: We know that signage is a critical part of being able to use our Cell Phone Waiting Area and we are looking at ways to improve it. In addition, our new roadway modifications will include new signage, which we hope will be helpful.

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Arlington, Va.: What measures have been taken to improve the time it takes for luggage to reach the baggage claim?

Christopher Browne: We recognize that this is a challenge for the airlines and we are working with them to find ways to help them in a number of ways, from promoting job fairs so they can staff appropriately for this function, to improving airside access for their baggage delivery vehicles.

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Centreville, Va.: I traveled recently with my wife and two kids on a overseas flight. The airports in Europe made provisions for families with kids (i.e. separate security line, etc.). Why does this not happen in IAD or for that matter in any U.S. airport?

Christopher Browne: Security screening is the responsibility of the Transportation Security Administration and they do train their staff to be aware of special needs of families with children. I would be interested in hearing suggestions for services we can offer families with children once they have proceeded through security and are in the Concourse and gate areas.

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Christopher Browne: Thank you for the opportunity to share information this morning. We appreciate your interest and support. The Airports Authority will continue to work to improve our two Washington airports. Please visit our website at www.mwaa.com for further information about our construction program and airport services.

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