4th DC Area Airport

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I fly DCA constantly. It is an amazing airport. The only time I contemplate using a different one is for international trips. Otherwise it is almost perfect.

+1

It’s the best mid-sized airport in the country. I can get from my house in Glover Park to my gate at DCA in 25 minutes. That’s absurdly convenient.

The DCA-EWR flight is awesome if you need to be in Lower Manhattan. Leaves hourly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Dulles has domestic flights as well, and is woefully otherwise underutilized.

Where exactly would this 4th airport be located?

Manassas where the current regional airport is located.

The metro doesn't go to Manassas.

Doesn’t go to BWI either. What’s the point?

Yeah. BWI sucks. Such a PITA. We don’t need another inaccessible airport in BFE.

Different strokes.

I'm not a business traveler and I love flying out of BWI. I consider it to be in inconvenience to fly out of DCA and it is a royal PITA to get out to IAD and fly from there. I had to do that a couple of years ago and it was torturous. You want to talk about inaccessible. The Beltway and the Dulles toll road are a major hassle to deal with, you have to park in Tennessee to use the airport and factor in a boatload of time to get from the daily parking lot to the terminal. And every stupid gate takes like 45 min to get to from the terminal. The reason we were going there was our flight from BWI was canceled and we could only get a replacement in time from IAD. But the difference was huge. Once on the grounds of IAD, it took twice as much time to get to the terminal there, get checked in, and out to our gate as it took to do so at BWI. IAD was very inefficient to traverse.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If NYC can get by with three airports, the DC area can, too.

L.A., too.

LA has 4 major airports: LAX, Burbank, Ontario & Orange County.

All 4 are major?

DP LGB, LAX, OC are "major" airports. Not sure about the other 2.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:To reply to the OP, we have built out the infrastructure for airports.
The truth is, we now need quality high speed rail in the DC region.
DC to NYC needs to be vastly improved.
And we really need to go south to Charlotte and Atlanta with high speed rail.
Also, DC to Pittsburgh to Cleveland would also be a good starting route
There's a great old book on this subject called Supertrains by Joseph Vranich that has maps on where high speed rail should go in the USA.
https://www.amazon.com/Supertrains-Solutions-Americas-Transportation-Gridlock/dp/0312064764/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=supertrains&qid=1664968101&qu=eyJxc2MiOiIwLjAwIiwicXNhIjoiMC4wMCIsInFzcCI6IjAuMDAifQ%3D%3D&s=books&sr=1-1

High speed rail would really help local flights of 400 miles or less.

Not really an option given what we are seeing now at the stations with crime and homelessness.

[Anonymous]

Perhaps a 4th airport can be put in Frederick. That would probably require an expansion of that crossing from Loudoun.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:To reply to the OP, we have built out the infrastructure for airports.
The truth is, we now need quality high speed rail in the DC region.
DC to NYC needs to be vastly improved.
And we really need to go south to Charlotte and Atlanta with high speed rail.
Also, DC to Pittsburgh to Cleveland would also be a good starting route
There's a great old book on this subject called Supertrains by Joseph Vranich that has maps on where high speed rail should go in the USA.
https://www.amazon.com/Supertrains-Solutions-Americas-Transportation-Gridlock/dp/0312064764/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=supertrains&qid=1664968101&qu=eyJxc2MiOiIwLjAwIiwicXNhIjoiMC4wMCIsInFzcCI6IjAuMDAifQ%3D%3D&s=books&sr=1-1

High speed rail would really help local flights of 400 miles or less.

Not really an option given what we are seeing now at the stations with crime and homelessness.

This is the dumbest, most pearl-clutchingest post I've ever seen.

OK Karen, we've got woefully underfunded Amtrak running decades-old trains on CSX rails with grades and curves that would have to be completely reworked in dense urban environments, sections to the south that aren't even electrified, and regulatory hurdles that will take years to clear even disregarding the physical and engineering concerns, but yeah you having to look at icky homeless people is the BIG reason we can't have high speed rail.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I avoid IAD if I can. Worst airport.

+1

We don't need a 4th airport. It's just that IAD is really terrible. Nothing worse than getting crammed into those weird shuttle buses between terminals after a long international flight. Tear it down and rebuild from scratch.

+1
I've never ever been to a major airport as bad as Dulles - it's just embarrassing on so many fronts but particularly that it's an int'l airport as it makes us look ridiculous. The stupid trams where people rightfully crowd around the door rather than go in since you have to leave the same way you enter. The low ceilings. The crappy food options. The lack of enough electronic walkways. Awful awful awful.

Dulles is actually queued up to fix all of their problems if they can work something out with United to pay for a replacement of the C/D terminal which was supposed to be temporary and is now 40 years old.

The underground train system stop for C/D is such a long walk because they located it under where the future C/D terminal is supposed to be and once the new C/D is opened that is essentially supposed to be the end of the awful people movers because everyone will be able to take the train.

No one is investing in terminals C/D because it is slated to be replaced so it is just an awful terminal.

B is actually quite nice and functional.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Dulles has domestic flights as well, and is woefully otherwise underutilized.

Where exactly would this 4th airport be located?

Manassas where the current regional airport is located.

The metro doesn't go to Manassas.

Doesn’t go to BWI either. What’s the point?

Both Amtrak and Marc go to BWI.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:BWI is a great airport.

It may be a great airport for budget and ultra-low-cost passengers, but it sucks for business travel.

Not sure why you think the entire airport is dedicated to budget travel, thar isn’t remotely the case.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:BWI is a great airport.

Best thing about BWI is how crazy cheap long-term parking is. You can park for 2 weeks and still save money over an Uber or taxi.

+1 I'm the "hate IAD" poster. I much prefer BWI but since it's small, and not a hub, the destinations aren't that varied. But, I much prefer flying out of BWI to LHR than IAD. Better flight times, too.

Okay. It's fine if you want to style yourself as a "BWI booster," but please. Get real. BWI has one daily flight offered by BA four times a week that is heavily subsidized by the State of Maryland. IAD has multiple flights each day offered by BA, United, and Virgin Atlantic. To suggest that BWI has better flight times is complete BS.

DP. What does your point have to do with PPs? Does a subsidy somehow make it less convenient? Why are you so angry at BWI?

NP. What a strange response. Who's angry? I happen to agree with the PP's point, which was clearly saying that it's ridiculous to suggest that BWI is somehow competitive or even preferable to Dulles when it comes to international service.

Both airports serve their purpose in the region.

If you live closer to BWI than Dulles, it’s preferable for flying international. Yes, Dulles has more flights bit Bwi has easier parking, quick access to terminals and the whole thing is recently renovated with decent places to get something to eat. Perhaps we should just campaign for more international flights to bwi.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Dulles has domestic flights as well, and is woefully otherwise underutilized.

Where exactly would this 4th airport be located?

Manassas where the current regional airport is located.

The metro doesn't go to Manassas.

Doesn’t go to BWI either. What’s the point?

Yeah. BWI sucks. Such a PITA. We don’t need another inaccessible airport in BFE.

Different strokes.

I'm not a business traveler and I love flying out of BWI. I consider it to be in inconvenience to fly out of DCA and it is a royal PITA to get out to IAD and fly from there. I had to do that a couple of years ago and it was torturous. You want to talk about inaccessible. The Beltway and the Dulles toll road are a major hassle to deal with, you have to park in Tennessee to use the airport and factor in a boatload of time to get from the daily parking lot to the terminal. And every stupid gate takes like 45 min to get to from the terminal. The reason we were going there was our flight from BWI was canceled and we could only get a replacement in time from IAD. But the difference was huge. Once on the grounds of IAD, it took twice as much time to get to the terminal there, get checked in, and out to our gate as it took to do so at BWI. IAD was very inefficient to traverse.

DCA is the best. Accessible to the dense parts of the DC area.

I suffer IAD for longer flights.

I only take BWI under dire circumstances.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I really wish we could take the train to more places. For instance, my family would like to go to NYC, Boston, Philly, or south to places like Charleston, New Orleans. Driving is a problem because parking is problematic in big cities. For my family though, trains are usually 2-3x the price of plane tickets and take a lot longer.

We like IAD a lot. Direct flights to nearly everywhere we want to go! But IAD also doesn't have any low cost flights like DCA and BWI have. Every time I price out flights, DCA and BWI are cheaper.

+1

I was hoping to take the train recently and it was MORE expensive than flying.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Dulles has domestic flights as well, and is woefully otherwise underutilized.

Where exactly would this 4th airport be located?

Manassas where the current regional airport is located.

The metro doesn't go to Manassas.

Doesn’t go to BWI either. What’s the point?

Yeah. BWI sucks. Such a PITA. We don’t need another inaccessible airport in BFE.

How is BWI inaccessible? Are you just talking about public transportation?

NP, to most of Virginia BWI is pretty inaccessible because the beltway is such a disaster. And our public transport is build with a hub and spokes, so you have to go to DC then transfer usually. BWI was somewhat doable when I lived in DC, but now that I'm in VA? No way.

If you’re in VA there’s no reason to go to BWI anyway.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Perhaps a 4th airport can be put in Frederick. That would probably require an expansion of that crossing from Loudoun.

The only rational for a Frederick airport would be if they don’t build another bridge. A more likely airport location would be either Bolling conversion to civilian use or something in the Dumfries/Fredericksburg area.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I avoid IAD if I can. Worst airport.

+1

We don't need a 4th airport. It's just that IAD is really terrible. Nothing worse than getting crammed into those weird shuttle buses between terminals after a long international flight. Tear it down and rebuild from scratch.

+1
I've never ever been to a major airport as bad as Dulles - it's just embarrassing on so many fronts but particularly that it's an int'l airport as it makes us look ridiculous. The stupid trams where people rightfully crowd around the door rather than go in since you have to leave the same way you enter. The low ceilings. The crappy food options. The lack of enough electronic walkways. Awful awful awful.

Dulles is actually queued up to fix all of their problems if they can work something out with United to pay for a replacement of the C/D terminal which was supposed to be temporary and is now 40 years old.

The underground train system stop for C/D is such a long walk because they located it under where the future C/D terminal is supposed to be and once the new C/D is opened that is essentially supposed to be the end of the awful people movers because everyone will be able to take the train.

No one is investing in terminals C/D because it is slated to be replaced so it is just an awful terminal.

B is actually quite nice and functional.

NP I had no idea! I really always wondered about C/D terminals. You basically walk a mile before making it to your gate. Sadly I haven't had a flight out of B gate or A gate ever and I fly regularly.