The Navigation Nightmare at Washington Dulles Airport

[@kevanhubbard9673]

Those mobile lounges look like something you might expect to see trundling over the snow of Antarctica!

[@robertcartwright4374]

Or in northern Canada, for safe viewing of polar bears.

[@fuzzwork]

​@@robertcartwright4374we actually have them at Montreal's airport for the remote stands. I was in one a couple of weeks ago

[@incubus_the_man]

Or on Mars in a 70s sci-fi thriller.

[@LimabeanStudios]

​@@incubus_the_manYa I feel like a space explorer when I ride on these

[@parrotcraft7503]

I've been in one like 4 or 5 times

[@ConrailHistorical]

Fun fact... The mobile lounge driver seats are repurposed Norfolk Southern locomotive seats. The NS logos are stamped into the seat backs.

[@zachfila]

Those seats must be really old because I work for NS and never seen those blue seats and the oldest locomotive I’ve worked with was from 1960

[@ConrailHistorical]

@zachfila the seats were not the same model as the ones shown. The rebuilt units have a black seat with plastic backing with the NS logo and name formed into them.

[@77thTrombone]

@@zachfilathe only shot of the driver seat was at 7:11, and that was a pretty poor view through plexiglass reflections. I couldn't really tell if the driver seat was blue or black.... Were you referring to the blue seats shown in the passenger area?

[@Matt-vs4zz]

When I was a kid (pre 9/11), you could just go to the airport and ride those mobile lounges around. My parents and I would literally ride them back and forth a few times to look at all the planes, then go ride a different one. It was like a free amusement ride.

[@77thTrombone]

And then there are the observation decks, which I'm pretty sure were closed off well before 9/11. 😢

[@paulcoinc]

That would have been cool. My family used to go sit at the gates of SFO and watch the planes come in and out.

[@MB-xw3nr]

As an Employee at Dulles those Mobile Longes are definitely some useful, powerful, amazing machines even considering how old some of them are! They are also used to bring passengers to the Terminal when planes park in the " stand area " and don't have a gate . My Virgin Atlantic flight landed and parked at the stand area and a Mobile Lounge hooked right up to the A330 and took us right away lol they hold about 100 passengers each so it only takes a few of them to unload even a wide body aircraft. I have also seen them used at Dulles to take a way passengers from the plane when they have had emergency landings and can't move the plane from the runway! They are definitely cool to have here !

[@mikeohawk95]

And can find other uses for vehicles such as those across the nation and maybe used at other airports like JFK, la guardia, detriot, Chicago ohare, la airport,etc, a theory

[@77thTrombone]

I had no idea those beasts were that old. I always found them interesting as unique, double-ended vehicles, but they never struck me as a particularly wondrous innovation in airport throughput modality (especially, as noted in the video, upon arrival from an international flight. 😵)

[@LMays-cu2hp]

I have always been on the Mobile Lounges eventide being in Washington DC. As a former Purser Flight Attendant the last time I rode on these lounges was back in 2010. I liked the comfort and convenience of being on the lounges.😊

[@mikeohawk95]

@@LMays-cu2hp even I rode them on some family trips even the rail sytem at jfk airport and Orlando airport when I went I disneyworld twice and Kennedy soace Centre and Daytona

[@hugedickerinokripperino5299]

Always kinda liked riding on those

[@adamrosales3617]

i am a flight attendant for jetblue and we had to in IAD due to DCA being closed. we had to park at the fedex ramp and a mobile lounge came to get us. it was really cool.

[@fighter5583]

JetBlue used to serve IAD regularly but cut it out of its route in 2019. Granted, they only rarely flew out of there and just consolidated everything to DCA.

[@adamrosales3617]

@@fighter5583 we have a team that will meet the plane in IAD but we dont have anymore gates

[@bryanwelsh7608]

Dulles is my home airport. When I was little (and the outdoor observation deck was still open) I used to love to watch the mobile lounges. Now (45 years later) I fly much more often and I still really enjoy riding the lounges. I think if you like planes and big machines, you will like the lounges (even when they are crowded). I know they will probably disappear one day but I will be sad when they do. Another fun fact, one was repurposed as a space shuttle vehicle...it met the astronauts on the runway.

[@29downtheline]

I never knew concourse C/D was only supposed to be temporary. Now that I think about it, it definitely feels that way. Little natural light, small gate spaces. Great video, nonetheless! Dulles certainly has one of the more interesting airport transit systems.

[@BoredSquirell]

There's nothing more permanent than a temporary solution

[@nathantransitj]

Thank you! I also had no idea until researching for this video. I think that calling it “temporary” was just to get away with building a cheaper concourse, but I may be wrong.

[@29downtheline]

If that’s the case, then I’d like a “temporary” extension of the AeroTrain to complete the full loop. “Temporarily,” of course.

[@BAKER22-l4u]

Ive work at Dulles since 1987, and Terminal C and D were NEVER meant to be temporary..They were built to be and ARE PERMANENT..The guy making this video is a CLUELESS, NARCISSISTIC CLOWN.

[@BAKER22-l4u]

It wasn't

[@jonwop]

As a captain based in Dulles, I cannot tell you how much I laughed at your take on the PenFed jingle. Because it drives me up a wall

[@glassea4820]

when you said "penfed hell" it triggered my fight or flight response 😂 the jingle haunts me in every waking moment

[@nycplayboy78]

ALL OF THIS!!! Dulles is my home airport....SHEESH!!!

[@gdofred]

I did notice on last week's flight that they did in fact turn the volume down on the jingle from hell.

[@burneracc1.0]

P e n f e d s g o t g r e a t g r a d e s f o r e v e r y o n e!

[@bryanwelsh7608]

Not as bad as Kars 4 Kids!

[@kevinwood5317]

@@bryanwelsh7608 PenFed compared to Kars4Kids is like comparing heartburn to a massive coronary. Not even the same galaxy as one another.

[@jerrywood4508]

I'm old enough to remember the excitement when Dulles opened. The architecture, of course, was the zoomiest aspect that was celebrated, but the mobile lounges were also touted as the future of boarding airliners.

[@mikejeweler]

30 years ago when I was a gate agent there, we boarded our flights at "A" gates on the back of the main terminal. We would load the passengers on mobile lounges and they would drive out and then lift up and connect right to the door of the plane which were parked on hardstands. Depending on the capacity of the plane and load, we would use 1-3 mobile lounges per flight. Each "gate" would have 2 mobile lounges parked. (if a 3rd was needed, one would pull up after one of the two departed.) On some of the bigger planes, the mobile lounges would pull up to multiple doors on the plane to speed up boarding. e.g. Rows 1-26 board on the lounge to the left. Rows 27-45 to the right. One lounge pulled up to the mid(L2) door and the other lounge would pull up to the aft (L3) door.

[@99thObsidian]

When I was a kid in the 70's I thought the lounges were planes with wings that fold. Arrived today on an international flight and I hate the lounges now. Had to pee bad and there is not a bathroom until after you take mobile lounge to customs. Customs in other countries is automated and takes just minutes. At Dulles its a 30 min plus line to wait for your turn with a customs agent. Between the mobile lounges and customs you dont get out of Dulles until after an hour from landing.

[@saltyroe3179]

I user the original terminal. The system was wonderful. My dad said that the big advantage was that planes did not have to taxi to and from a terminal. He said in the 1st year the fuel cost savings exceeded the price of the traveling lounges. What killed the idea is that instead of extending the length of the original building for more traveling lounges, they came up with idiot ideas like the mid field terminal. In its original form Dullas was my favorite USA airport. It is also in one of my favorite films, "7 Days in May "

[@kevinmiller1121]

The nostalgia factor is cute, but having to deal with these idiotic space buses after a long international flight is beyond irritating. This is the primary airport serving the nation’s capital, and having such an antiquated system of transportation is a complete embarrassment. I’m glad to see they finally broke ground on the “real” C and D terminal and that the Aero Train will finally connect with both of them, but it’s absurdly overdue.

[@ClassyWhale]

Fantastic overview! You've really got a knack for writing and editing these things. Can't wait to see what international adventures you're off to!

[@randomtransitadventures]

hello Caleb classy whale

[@nathantransitj]

Thank you!

[@randomtransitadventures]

@@nathantransitj i thought this was KDFW

[@SovietImperator]

I remember when I arrived at Dulles from the UK and not only was I greeted to a beautifully cramped mobile lounge ride to customs and immigration, but then I got to spend an hour and a half waiting in line to be let through :)

[@tren133]

I recently came back from an international flight, and my mom waited 2 hours while I got off the planeb into that mobile lounge and waited in the long ass line in customs. The US citizen/resident line is at least quicker, but your foreign visitor line looked suuuuuper slow. So when I had to go pick up my wife and kids from the same airport two weeks later, I didn't show up to the airport until 2 hours AFTER their flight landed. But I still had to wait nearly 20 minutes until they finally came out LOL. Although I will give one thing to Dulles. Short term parking, while not cheap, is literally right across from the terminal, so it only took another 20 minutes for us to get to our car, load up the luggage, pay the parking fee, and get out of the airport.

[@themalhotras1597]

global entry is a life saver 😂

[@DrJoesFunStuff]

I grew up near Dulles Airport in the 1970s-1990s and when new the airport was considered to be the future of travel, the pinnacle of design, and was the airport of choice for the image conscious traveler. I flew out of that airport many times and fondly remember dressing up in my Sunday best to fly on Braniff Airlines and get the occasional glimpse of a Concorde taking off and/or landing. Also saw many a world celebrity, political figure, or local pro sporting athlete wandering the concourse. As a kid it always fascinated me that the entire roof was held up by one giant pillar. I loved the mobile lounges back in their heyday.

[@dstroma]

The walk from the AeroTrain to C/D is brutal. The computer voice on the train is super hard to understand and everyone gets lost.

[@BAKER22-l4u]

Brutal? Lol..Why are you LYING? I work at Dulles, and it's an EASY walk..I do it 5 days a week

[@dstroma]

@@BAKER22-l4u Do it when you've been assigned a last minute flight hauling your luggage and get back to me. The wheels don't roll well on the carpet, especially not uphill. Awful design. And taking the moving walk, which only runs a portion of the tunnel, is slower because people stand or walk slowly on it.

[@h8GW]

@@dstroma Just scream "EXCUSE ME! ON YOUR LEFT!!!! *GTFO OF THE WAY!"* I've worked at JFK and I didn't have much of a problem on the moving walkway as people who stand tend to do it to their right. And I'm the type of person to jog or run on the conveyor to experience the G-forces at the end.

[@nutkja]

Dulles has definitely gotten a lot better than it used to be. Security used to be a nightmare but the new x-ray machines have really sped things up. I had no idea C and D were supposed to be temporary. Why would you even build a temporary concourse like that? Really explains why it's so crappy. And since I'm somehow always flying out of D I have to take the Mobile Lounges and they're never as empty as the shots I see here lol. You get packed in like sardines, especially if you're taking the ones to immigration. I never even knew that they could raise up to to let you directly disembark. That's actually cool and if they still did that I wouldn't mind so much.

[@sammymarrco2]

I flew from IAD in 2021 and the aero train was the first driverless train I remember riding!

[@randomtransitadventures]

KIAH?

[@sammymarrco2]

@@randomtransitadventures GFK

[@randomtransitadventures]

oh

[@DaveM-FFB]

Years ago, I boarded many domestic flights at Dulles via the Mobile Lounge. The lounge took us directly to the aircraft, just like the catering truck. Often, two lounges would be docked at the plane at the same time (front and rear doors).

[@hawktb9]

Those mobile lounges are cool, if you ask me. I just hope they are still around for the foreseeable future to aid in moving more volumes of people along with the AeroTrain and the walkable concourses.

[@virginiatolles1664]

Between 1962, when Dulles first opened, and 1980, no one wanted to drive all the way out to Dulles (30 miles from DC) to catch a plane when National was just across the river. If you visited Dulles, it appeared almost abandoned. Nearby townhouses were boarded up. No one wanted to live that far from DC, either. Ten years later, as privatization of government services came in, the population grew, expanding DC's commuting area and the need to use both Dulles and National. It was at this point that the mobile lounges became obsolete. The underground pedestrian walkways offered the first alternative transit between the main terminal and Terminal B. Now, there are more terminals, located farther from the Main terminal. Added to that, in the late 1990s, the main terminal was expanded to, I'm going to guess, twice its original length. Thus, more passengers came, and new ways to move people from the main terminal to the far outer ones became necessary. As the video said, Dulles really is like a city, one that has grown exponentially over the past 62 years.

[@brians9508]

as crazy as it seems, when Dulles first opened, they actually had flights from National to Dulles.

[@virginiatolles1664]

That would have been an incredibly short hop, as far as air travel goes. Did they skim the tree tops?

[@DieselDucy]

This was a very informative and well produced video. Kept my attention the whole time. I love the mobile lounges. Too bad that concept quickly went obsolete.

[@BAKER22-l4u]

Very informative? Well produced? Lol. WTF is WRONG with you? I work at Dulles, and a lot of what this clown is saying is ABSOLUTELY NOT correct

[@Buc_Stops_Here]

Took the mobile lounges years ago between terminals, the underground train did not exist yet. Thanks for this update on how to get around!

[@jman1948]

The worst part about that airport is if you are flying out of D and decide to take the Aerotrain. I actually like the mobile lounge.

[@gdofred]

I will sometimes take the mobile lounge to D when flying out of C because I prefer the walk in the terminal to the walk from the station to the C gates...

[@Fish5216m]

I love Dulles International, I’m just really used to it and gives me good memories

[@brantfeldman6591]

Safe to say looking at the majority of comments that Nathan's transit journey review has been KILLED by all of us. Honestly, this airport has served the DMV region really well over the years and is majestic as the portal to the world's leaders for decades. It also was a KEY DRIVER to the wealth & success of the Dulles Access Road corridor, Loudon and Fairfax County and the growth to the Northern Virginia region. Ultimately, there are worse airports around the nation than this one that were built decades later. Yes, the midfield terminals were supposed to be temporary but they also added and fueled the rapid growth of the United Airlines (Star Alliance) hub that came as a result of the ability to get it up and running faster. The mobile lounge concept was and still is unique. The long walkways are a bummer, but at the same time, how much money did they save too for us the taxpayers of the Commonwealth of Virginia. Ultimately, if you don't like the airport, that's fine, so fly though Reagan National or BWI, but just because you would like to call it a nightmare is your opinion but for the rest of us here that actually like it (& fund it from our regional taxes and the airport landing fees, you don't hear a lot of public discourse on it and the airport is going to expand again). I usually don't comment on these things, but thought to on this one.

[@suspiciousstew1169]

As a northern virginian dulles is fine, especially considering it’s closer to me than reagan/national

[@brians9508]

as a northern virginian, i think dulles absolutely sucks - especially for international flights. its design is antiquated, and not befitting the nation's capital.

[@TheRicsilver48]

You get better and better all the time.😊

[@th3thrilld3m0n]

I once flew in on LH, connecting to UA domestically, but still needed a mobile lounge prior to CBP because LH uses the int'l concourse, so there were two mobile lounge options: one for terminating pax to go to the main terminal, and one for connecting pax that went to concourse C's CBP.

[@casey6556]

I will say something I really appreciate about Dulles is that the terminals are fully interconnected in that there’s no separate domestic and international zones. So while it may limit autonomy insofar as how it requires using transit vehicles to get around, it does allow you to benefit from the full airport’s amenities which is nice. As someone who often flies out of the Z gates, being able to go eat or hang in the much nicer A-B concourse is quite nice

[@brians9508]

getting off a 14 hour international flight and then having to be stuffed like a sardine into one of those people movers is one of my most hated things about flying into Dulles. It seems that rather than having two of them available after a flight lands so that you can have a comfortable experience, their standard operating procedure is to literally stuff us into just one of them so that we are shoulder to shoulder and tripping all over each other. absolutely horrid.

[@JoshDoesTravel]

You are correct on the way to identify a mobile lounge and a plane mate! More specifically, the mobile lounges are identified by their phonetic alphabet letter (Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, etc.), whereas plane mates are named after US states (and use their 2 letter postal code abbreviation) I have a video coming up soon of a behind the scenes tour of IAD, which pairs well with your excellent transportation explainer!

[@philiparonson8315]

I like IAD for the convenience of international flights. However, when entering the US, one must use the mobile lounge to go to immigration and customs and it can be very inefficient . On my last flight we had to wait for 20 minutes for a lounge to arrive and then spent another 10 to 20 just to get to the immigration area. I know there were plans to use an underground train for this purpose, it is past time to reevaluate.

[@nicholasbaldwin1876]

Mobile lounges have been around for a while now (way pre-2000's), its a leftover from when passengers would actually go onto the Tar Mac to board the planes (like you see the President do). Jetway's pretty much made them obsolete overnight, but Dulles keeps a few around.

[@GrandWagJeep]

I had a layover in Dulles a few years back. Before I landed I knew nothing about the airport- the mobile lounges were a shock, but I thought they were really cool. Definitely the most interesting part of an otherwise dull airport.

[@bigshiro]

The first time I set foot into a mobile lounge in 1984, I thought my parents had taken me to Disney land, and I got so excited. What an amazing machine! Someday I wanna convert it into a mobile man cave!!

[@jonrichcorpuz2380]

Thanks for making this video! Dulles is my home airport i live 10min from it, never get tired of jets over my head 24/7

[@colonial6452]

I rode one of these lounges in 1976 when boarding a TWA transatlantic flight. It was amazing and very modern at the time.

[@markmaz56]

The mobile lounges were an efficient way to board an aircraft before the advent of jet bridges. Eliminated having to walk to the plane and climb stairs. This was especially handy in bad weather.

[@richardc020]

You got it all down pat, superb research and writing!

[@samuelb.9515]

Such a cool video! I’ve been wanting to see a tour of the airport like this one, and the overview of the mobile lounges is really neat. Thanks for making it!

[@Jcrescent1]

I got to ride on a mobile lounge like this, but in Mexico City. It was a bit of a surprise but they had no available gates when we arrived and the space we were parked at required the use of one of these lounges. It was a pretty cool experience.

[@JanusTroelsen]

But was it elevated as much as these ones, or was it just a wide bus from e.g. COBUS Industries?

[@Jcrescent1]

@@JanusTroelsen It was a mobile lounge not a bus. We de-boarded directly into it from the front passenger exit. This was back in 2002 so not sure if MMMX is still using them.

[@PiplupJames]

Good ‘ol DULLES and yes i was at opening day of Silver Line Phase II albeit later in the day. Dulles IS the airport you need to get there 2-3 hours before your flight anyways because of said transit. Hopefully one day the aero-train (sp.) will be a continuous circuit. The mobile lounges has GOT TO GO!!

[@santoshNarayana]

I dont know I like those mobile lounges, good seating with great views

[@volodymyrkleban1484]

The airport is terribly designed for international travel. Mobile lounges are here to stay forever for international arrivals

[@kowboys1180]

Dulles is my home airport. I will never forget the time I flew back from Frankfurt, and shared a mobile lounge with a group of German businessmen. They were stunned and outraged by the lounge - it was almost a personal affront to their modern Teutonic sensibilities. At one point in transit from the international terminal to the main terminal, the lounge stopped temporarily. One of the Germans snorted with derision, “I think it’s broken!”

[@xth6197]

I grew up near Dulles, when the mobile lounges were the only way to get to the planes on the tarmac. Also when the Concorde started to fly to Washington. Before all the additions, the sweeping ceiling of the airport defined the total space. It was beautiful. Every gate was a mobile lounge. Of course not many people used Dulles back then. It was mostly international I think, and for the planes that National could not handle.

[@ac3115]

I never knew about the mobile lounges until watching this video! Thanks for sharing! I flew into IAD last year, even though I needed to transfer at CLT. I was really looking forward to the Silver Line, I have been following the progress for years. There was a bus bridge that day! What? However, the Silver Line shuttle to IAD was available, so I told the ambassador I was getting off at McLean. I took the bus bridge from McLean to Ballston-MU. If I said I was going to DC, I would have been sent to the express bus bridge to Rosslyn. Like you mentioned in the video, driving is still faster than Metro. I was more for the Silver Line over speed, so I didn’t take the express bus bridge.

[@dlpjosh]

The Plane-Mate style lounges are identified with the two-letter abbreviations for U.S. states, with the "standard" mobile lounges having single-letter identifiers. MWAA recently announced that they are going to be overhauled, so they're here to stay for a while. The H gates have that letter due to the gates being "hardstands" - remote/disconnected from a terminal facility. As you said, they're the closest to Saarinen's original vision for Dulles. Looking forward to seeing what you've gotten up to with your international trip! Not sure if you're still traveling, but continued safe travels if you are!

[@huskerredskin7253]

I walked into one of them the first time I landed in the US in Jan 1990. It was snowing heavily on that day and the ride to the main terminal was surreal for someone coming from a tropical country

[@WillJohnson-ij3nb]

Great video! One transit mode that was overlooked (that I frequent) is the dreaded Economy Parking shuttle. You get what you pay for I suppose, but nothing is more aggravating than your flight finally arriving to the airport, riding a cramped mobile lounge, waiting for your bags, then having to wait for a Green Lot shuttle that spends 20-30 minutes weaving around endless aisles of parking, stressing that you're going to miss or forget your stop, then the moment of panic when you're trying to recall where your car is actually parked... oh, and then having to wait behind a line of exiting vehicles whose drivers are fumbling for their parking ticket and credit card to pay their way out :P

[@nathantransitj]

I have never taken the parking shuttles! I probably should one day to check them off my list but they sound infuriating.

[@daylightdaylight6612]

Was YMX not using only mobile lounges to board an aircraft? Because there where no "nose in " gates at YMX.

[@michlschade2236]

Dulles might have the most beautiful airport building in the US...? And National isn't that far behind. How many regions outside of DC/NoVA have a choice of two Metro-accessible airports? Though if I were the governor of Virginia I would push for an all-Virginia line, connecting Court House to Arlington Cemetery (or, Pentagon City?) and thus Dulles to Reagan National.

[@CurtYT202]

Virginia Railway Express (VRE)

[@jeffammons912]

Chicago (O'Hare via the Blue Line, & Midway via the Orange Line)

[@tookitogo]

Three, if you consider that BWI is connected via the MARC rail! As for beauty: if we include buildings that still exist (even if they’re no longer used for airport operations), then the winner has to be the TWA center at JFK. Like Dulles, it’s also a Saarinen design. If you ever have a layover at JFK, take the air train to the TWA center - it’s open to the public and is a great “free lounge” with lots of space. It has tons of architectural details to explore.

[@brians9508]

NYC has Laguardia and Kennedy; technically Liberty in in Jersey London as Heathrow and Gatwick Paris has deGaulle and Orly Houston Intercontinental and Hobby Dallas Dallas-Ft Worth (DFW) and Love Los Angeles LA-International (LAX) and Ontario and Orange County John Wayne and Hollywood Burbank

[@bixbysnyder-00]

Say what you want, but these things have a style all their own. Always brings a smile to my face when I see it roll up

[@LMays-cu2hp]

Those Mobile Lounges were very nice to ride on. I use to always go over to the C & D concourse were my flights were. Being a former Purser Flight Attendant I use the Mobile Lounges all the time. But the walks in the C & D concourse are just a killer!😊😊 I have gotten so tired walking therre!! Crazy!😅😅

[@mxg75]

The Silver Line to the airport is slower than driving because it makes so many stops. Now, if they quad tracked the line for express service, it’d be a different story, but good luck paying for that.

[@bobbbobb4663]

On a separate note, that is the main problem with Marta in Atlanta…no express option from the Northside to the airport because there is no infrastructure to support it.

[@elitettelbach4247]

Just flew into Dulles last week! I’ve always called the mobile lounges People Movers, and I think they’re neat! I much prefer those to that long walk from the plane train to the C terminal.

[@wendysherbert3257]

I really like Dulles! It is my go to local airport. Thank you for making this video. I really enjoyed it! Th lounges are kinda fun…get to see “behind the scenes” at the airport. It really isn’t a nightmare at all. The parking is the nightmare…lol

[@teecefamilykent]

Brilliant video sir, they look like something out of thunderbirds!

[@jumpingjeffflash9946]

I had to spend the night in IAD (not DCA as I previously indicated) in a lounge on top of my luggage while I was in the USAF flying home from Korea when my tour there ended, I was so exhausted and sweaty, there was no USO there at time time (93" maybe still?) I'll always be grateful for the Dulles airport cop that was a USAF reservist who brought me back to his station and let me take a nice shower there. I do remember those people trains too, I don't think I've been to IAD since.

[@santoshNarayana]

DCA is Reagan National Airport, IAD is Dulles Airport

[@tookitogo]

It doesn’t sound like you were ever at DCA. Dulles is IAD.

[@jumpingjeffflash9946]

@@tookitogo I've been to both, I screwed up my airport code. I've definitely been to Dulles. thanks for pointing out my error!

[@jumpingjeffflash9946]

@@santoshNarayana yeah as commented above i made a mistake w/my airport code although I've been to both. thanks (edited my comment)

[@jimgray1094]

Nothing like landing tired after a 7+ hour international flight of 400+ passengers and having to wait to load each mobile lounge to take you to the customs hall. I hate these things like poison.

[@brians9508]

not to mention that they seem intent on stuffing us into them until we are shoulder to shoulder like sardines

[@marcd6897]

I boarded a widebody plane from one of these mobile lounges only once maybe 5 years ago. It was an interesting experience and very convenient for planes that are not parked at the terminal, but I guess this is rather rare at Dulles (for widebody aircrafts)

[@TheKurtsPlaceChannel]

Very entertaining and fun to watch. Thanks for posting this.

[@delibakerytravel]

Great Video Today!! Thanks For Sharing, Enjoy The Weekend.

[@brickstar56]

Rode in one once I tried describing the experience to a friend, it was like getting into a train car that was also an elevator that lurched forward like a taxi and brought you to the other side of the airport!

[@MarkJensen-e8d]

Flew into Dulles in 2000 and that was the only way to travel between the concourses or the main terminal. We got in at 1230am on a delayed arrival from Denver and I just remember my dad going "pick up your feet, we will miss the shuttle/lounge." The reason, Dulles only ran 1-2 mobile lounges between the terminals of about 30 minute intervals.

[@alexcyfong]

Unfortunately my experience with Dulles and the mobile lounge is not great as the airport direction is not clear and the mobile lounge could be slow due to traffic hold up. If you only have 1 hour and 15 minutes to do your transfer, good luck in Dulles

[@kevinwood5317]

This is probably KZbin's fault and not Nathan's, but does anyone else get a kaleidoscopic lilac "wormhole" effect instead video of the aerotrain tunnel at 2:43? I can sometimes get it to play correctly by backing up and pausing/unpausing at the right time, but most of the time it's a bizarrely beautiful mess at that segment.

[@pleappleappleap]

If you put a circular polarizer on your lens, you can cancel the reflections in the platform doors.

[@oliverstrubbe]

Very interesting video, you earned yourself a subscriber! Great job!

[@jonathanbott87]

What are the fins for? Visibility? Communication?

[@erik_griswold]

Hide the lifting mechanism

[@nathantransitj]

The fins contain the screws that the Plane Mates use to raise and lower. I should have probably mentioned this in the video.

[@dimitriantanov3150]

They actually seem to make a nice passenger throughput optimizer that you can move to wherever you need + they have onboard and offboard capabilities. I understand they are a strange sight but oh my goodness that's a nice force multiplier to roll out when you need it.

[@jerryzhang872]

Fortunately enough to have actually used this mobile lounge system, truly unique albeit a bit counterintuitive considering airport design logics of the modern day

[@nycplayboy78]

YESSSSSS!!! PenFed has great rates for EVVERRRYYYYONNNEEEE!!!!! That jingle is HELL!!! Welcome to Dulles....LOL!!!!

[@mxthunder2]

thats why i love atlanta. huge airport. logically laid out, and you can either walk or take the tram.

[@Joyboy13257]

As a little kid, this was my favorite thing in the world. I think the different colors of the interiors correlate to the age of the people mover, as some are still the original ones. And the originals were built by Chrysler

[@aselwyn1]

Montreal airport also has these mobile lounge's although only ever seem to be used for International flights that there isn't gate space for.

[@alexdhall]

0:18: Local NoVA person. They still have some of those plane mates in use. They use the plane mates for taking peipe off of international flights to customs. I vaguely remember once having to get directly onto one of them from an international flight. Pretty obvious why they moved 3:00: Yep the "temporary" terminals are obviously not temporary anymore. Then again I will say its easier to get to your terminal versus say the confusing mess that Charles de Gauille (lots of walking) or even La Guardia Airport. 5:40: Yeah that Penfed jingle is annoying. 6:01: Hoping the "temporary" terminals will eventually br replaced. I guess Terminal E will be a nice taste of a permanent terminal. Excellent video that describes the whole IAD situation. Not sure if you've done a video on Newark International Airport. They have what I think is a worse transit setup. They have a tram that sort of goes to all the terminals (still have a walk to the new domestic one). If you have to switch terminals and stay in the secure area you have to take shuttle buses which are actually *less* roomy than the mobile lounges (regular commuter busses). That was a fun layover..../S

[@HyperDaveUK]

I am quite used to this airport, as I arrive via Dublin in Ireland I go through pre-clearance and customs in Dublin (They have a USA border controls there) and don't use the mobile lounges as we arrive in the Departures area and get the air train back to the luggage collection.

[@Republic3D]

I remember riding these arriving with an SAS A340 from CPH to IAD. New experience! Was pretty cool.

[@noahbauserman1768]

The mobile lounges are a part of Dulles’ 60+ year history. They date back to when the airport first opened and there’s nothing like them anywhere else. The problem is they aren’t enough to serve the modern infrastructure needs of Dulles, but are too historic to get rid of. It also doesn’t help that the rail system that would replace them is far too expensive to build.

[@TopHatPenguin]

I live 5 min from Dulles and I love and hate those things because it means I’m going to the old terminal with no food BUT I love sitting on them and looking around you get cool views such as the coordinated snow cleaning or when a plane has no gate they use the cars

[@Dutch-vj2eg]

It may be cool when you go through Dulles once a decade.....it is terrible when it is your main way in and out of the DMV. The lounges should be in a museum as they have outlived any useful function. They over-complicate (and over-spend on) everything new they create and it seems they have a special training program to teach staff to be as obnoxious and unhelpful as possible. The walk from the train to the C/D concourses is idiotic and the concourse itself looks like it is meant to herd cattle. This useless airport experience actually causes me to drive long distance much more than I would if there were an efficient airport I try avoid it as much as possible but still wind up going thru several times a year.

[@patrickbrock6800]

They also work well for Deplaning passengers stuck in remote spots after they have to divert here. Or if the plane becomes disabled on the runway

[@PaulCashman]

Whew, this makes me appreciate my "home" airport, ATL, even more!

[@Blabhabonsteriods]

8:00 wait but this year I took an aer Lingus flight from Dublin to Dulles and I didn’t have to go through immigration granted I’m already an American citizen. Is there an exception for American citizens?

[@nathantransitj]

You must have passed through US immigration in Dublin.

[@okeesmokee6658]

My old boss Ken (best boss I ever had) loved flying into Dulles. He thought that the design of Dulles would soon be the design for all new airports. I slowly watched it morph to become like most other airports - with trains and long concourses. I still like Dulles, but prefer DCA because of Metro access even though the Metro now goes to Dulles.

[@Techno-Universal]

NASA also had two mobile lounges that were very likely clean rooms at the same time as they were used to transport astronauts between the primary facilities and the launch pads during the Apollo and Space Shuttle programs.

[@Ztbmrc1]

So I understand these mobile lounges do no longer dock direct on a plane? I do remember having seen pictures of these mobile lounges years ago, but I had forgotten about them. And I have not yet been in the USA.

[@JamesAllmond]

They still use those at Dulles! Cool! Beats walking miles like in most modern airports.

[@frequinnasty7303]

I was on one and I was like 'wtt is that and why tf does it have monster truck tires' 😂 I personally like Dulles, it's a cool airport to explore

[@dxps26]

the lounges are kind of adorable, some of them are given state abbreviations as names so it's a game to see how many you can find on your way to the admittedly lousy C/D terminal

[@bobfitzpatrick8952]

This was interesting. I've been by the other airport on the Metro, but never been near Dulles.

[@rewindd]

I used one of these on my international flight back from Amsterdam. it was dark, musty, and depressing, with no seats. it was a way for border security to move a lot of people that haven't gone through the security to move them over to the border area. I felt like a prison inmate

[@fighter5583]

Just to note: the plane mates are abbreviated with the initials of US states. And as an employee still working at IAD, United's terminal no longer has the pass of being called "temporary". Compared to the first terminal, their terminal looks like a jail cell. The lack of windows and cramped spaces with little natural light getting in is complete bonkers IMO. Not only that, I have some misgivings about how MWAA ground control handles flights with this ongoing construction that has shut down the fuel system for half of terminal one until January. Specifically, my beef is their continued reluctance to put flights flying over 11 hours on gates with no access to working fuel pits. I heard recently there's been equipment issues so any flight being put on that side will likely be leaving late; when MWAA could just stick the planes at the remote stands and get everything done from there. Also there's the fact since Lufthansa is currently bringing their A380 here, MWAA had the BRILLIANT idea to put it on a gate the plane doesn't actually fit; which is causing further headaches because we now have a gate that can be used for an A350 or 777 being blocked and only a A320 or 737 can fit there. Again, it's because of MWAA's refusal to make use of the remote stands.

[@ChatGPT1111]

I remember the Munich Germany airport had them when I was there in 1982.

[@TRLTheRandomLab]

I've had connections at Dulles before but never got to ride one of those busses. But i will say, that even though they are *incredibly inefficient* -- it's probably good to keep at least a small fleet of them around. As someone who works in IT infrastructure, I always have to think about redundancy and "what if the fiber from Verizon goes down, can we use Comcast cable internet or Starlink in the meantime while Verizon fixes the fiber coming into the building? or do we have to just close the business and send everyone home until we get it fixed?" What if the AeroTrain system broke down? People could use the mobile lounges instead, or the long walkways -- it might be more annoying to have to wait and there will be lines... but people will still be able to move from A to B. These "mobile lounges" could possibly be the difference between a major travel disaster with the airport being closed and people being stranded across the country because their flight to Dulles got cancelled, or a brief annoyance of having to wait for the bus to come.... but nobody's stuck in Chicago because there's no other connection to Boston until noon tomorrow, etc.

[@zionismisterrorism8716]

Mobile lounges were very fun to use. Made IAD very unique.

[@schonkat1982]

Dulles is one of the best airports in the world as far as convenience goes when it comes to international flights. Yes, it has some corks, but overall it's a pleasant experience. That's due to great staff, fast and efficient customs, good shops and lounges. I prioritize it flying out of the country over JFK, Newark(the worst), BWI and Washington national

[@omar90s91]

Pretty cool, never seen something like that before, loos so futuristic

[@DannyPimienta]

IAD is my preferred airport of the 3 we have despite being equidistant from IAD-BWI-DCA. BWI is always delayed and DCA flights are priced way higher due to convenience of Metro access.

[@tookitogo]

Weird. I used to fly in and out of BWI all the time, and one of the reasons was the _lack_ of delays and lines. (IAD is where I’ve experienced the longest TSA waits I’ve ever seen.)

[@DannyPimienta]

@@tookitogo maybe I was always lucky lol. I’m the only one who likes IAD in my circle of friends. I even love the people movers.

[@tookitogo]

@@DannyPimienta I’ve always liked IAD’s mobile lounges. And the architecture of the ticketing hall of course. But when I fly to Maryland (my old home, which I visit about once a year from overseas), I try to avoid IAD, with BWI being my clear preference, then DCA, and IAD only as a last resort. I can dawdle up to BWI a half hour before my flight and easily make it to the gate with time to spare. Even with TSA Precheck, there’s no guarantee that 90 minutes is enough time to get to the gate at IAD. (Plus it’s much, much slower to get to traffic-wise from the part of MD I stay at, in Crofton, since I have to take the Capitol Beltway, but that’s not IAD’s fault as such.) So between the much longer drive and the much longer time to check in and get to the gate, IAD ultimately means having to leave for the airport nearly 4 hours earlier than for BWI, if it means needing to negotiate DC rush hour traffic (and of course you know how DC beltway rush hour consumes most of the day…).

[@DannyPimienta]

@@tookitogo beltway traffic does suck, once I get to the Dulles corridor, the express lane to IAD makes up for it. I’m not brave enough to attempt taking the silver line to IAD just yet lol