Since Washington Dulles International Airport opened, travelers have relied on an unconventional way to reach some concourses: massive bus-style vehicles called mobile lounges, or people movers, that carry passengers between the main terminal and aircraft gates.
Those instantly recognizable shuttles may eventually disappear from the airport—and United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby is unlikely to miss them.
“I hate them. Terrible,” Kirby said while discussing Dulles’ mobile lounges during an interview with Washington Post Live this week.
The vehicles have been part of the Dulles experience since 1962. They were introduced to help passengers navigate the airport’s expansive layout without walking lengthy distances between the terminal and their planes.
More than 60 years later, however, the system is increasingly seen as outdated. Plans for a major Dulles modernization would phase out the mobile lounges in favor of expanded rail service, underground tunnels, moving walkways and improved pedestrian routes.
The ambitious transformation is expected to include nearly $20 billion in construction and upgrades over the next 15 years.
Despite his criticism of the people movers, Kirby has expressed strong support for the airport’s broader redevelopment. He said he expects the revamped Dulles to become the finest airport in the United States.
“This is the greatest country on earth, and the airport should help with that,” Kirby said.
For more than six decades, passengers at Washington Dulles International Airport have boarded enormous bus-like “people movers” to travel between the main terminal and several concourses.
President Donald Trump unveiled the planned overhaul in July as part of a broader effort to update major infrastructure across Washington and the surrounding capital region.
The Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority has approved an additional $15.5 billion for Dulles’ capital program, bringing the airport’s projected 15-year construction budget to $19.9 billion.
According to the Airports Authority, the work will be funded mainly through bonds and revenue generated by the airport, rather than through dedicated taxpayer dollars.
For passengers, one of the most noticeable changes will eventually be the retirement of the mobile lounges, a transportation system that has become one of Dulles’ defining features.
The airport instead plans to expand its AeroTrain, construct a central tunnel linking the concourses and install additional moving walkways and pedestrian connections.
The redevelopment will also include replacing the C and D concourses, along with renovations and expansions elsewhere as passenger demand continues to rise.
More than five million square feet of new or renovated airport space is planned. Dulles’ landmark original terminal, designed by renowned architect Eero Saarinen, is expected to remain intact.
Because the work will unfold in stages, travelers should not expect the mobile lounges to vanish immediately.
Construction on the tunnels intended to replace them is scheduled to start in early 2029, with completion of that phase targeted for 2034.
“I hate them. Terrible,” United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby said of Dulles’ mobile lounges.
Washington Dulles International Airport is slated to receive nearly $20 billion in construction and modernization work over the next 15 years.
The wider transformation will take considerably longer, with some major concourse construction not expected to begin until the late 2030s.
The scale of the project is significant because Dulles is already a major international gateway, serving roughly 29 million passengers over the past year, according to the Airports Authority.
Trump has taken a particularly close interest in the redesign, personally reviewing more than 30 proposals before the July announcement.
Kirby was present at the White House event and acknowledged the president’s involvement when asked about the project.
‘The president was interested in it,’ Kirby said, noting that although Dulles is not really a federal government operation, Trump had taken a strong interest in its future.
Travelers have plenty of opinions about the people movers, too, with reactions ranging from relief at their planned retirement to passengers arguing that the shuttles can actually be quicker than the train for certain journeys.
One Reddit commenter argued that the people movers are still faster for reaching the C and D gates than taking the AeroTrain, while another said the airport’s current setup was the result of earlier planning decisions involving the location of the train station.
Others defended the mobile lounges, with one traveler calling them ‘fine’ and saying they can be faster than the trains when traveling to certain gates.
But international travelers have complained about crowded queues for the vehicles, while another Reddit user described walking between concourses as a lengthy alternative that left them exhausted and covered in sweat.
The planned makeover was unveiled by President Donald Trump in July as part of his wider push to remake Washington and modernize major infrastructure in the nation’s capital region
The frustration is not entirely new: the mobile lounges have long been criticized for being cramped and awkward, and one was involved in a crash at a concourse dock last year that sent at least 18 people to hospitals with non-life-threatening injuries, according to the Airports Authority.
For United, which has a major presence at Dulles, the transformation could have an especially noticeable impact, with the airline also set to receive additional lounge space, including plans for a large United Polaris Lounge.
The airline has already found itself in the middle of another Trump-related airport controversy this year after an internal memo appeared to suggest passengers unhappy with the renaming of Palm Beach International Airport could switch to nearby airports for no additional fare.
United later said the guidance was inaccurate, with a spokesperson telling Our News Outlet that the message was ‘poorly worded and not accurate.’
That episode involved a completely different airport and policy, but it adds to an unusual year for United as the airline navigates a series of changes involving airports and the Trump administration.
At Dulles, however, Kirby’s message is much simpler: he may hate the people movers, but he believes the airport that replaces them could finally give Washington the world-class gateway he thinks the capital deserves.
