Dulles is one of the three Washington-area airports and its quality is a hotly-debated topic among Washingtonians.
Trump, a former real estate mogul, said the Dulles building was “incorrectly designed.” He nonetheless praised Eero Saarinen, the Finnish-American architect who designed the main terminal at Dulles.
“We’re going to turn that around and we’re going to make Dulles airport -- serving Washington and Virginia, Maryland, etc. -- we’re gonna make that into something really spectacular. We have an amazing plan for it.”
His motorcade took an unannounced drive through Dulles in early November. At the time, the White House said Trump wanted to take the detour to the airport to assess potential future projects.
Sheldon H. Jacobson, an airport security and aviation infrastructure expert whose research contributed to the design of TSA PreCheck, called the president’s announcement a “head-scratcher,” noting it comes amid substantial modernization work already underway at Dulles, including a new 14-gate concourse set to open next year that will give passengers direct access to its AeroTrain system.
“I can think of a lot higher priorities right now,” he said, pointing to the long-needed updates to the nation’s aging air traffic control equipment. Trump said Tuesday that his administration was also working on modernizing the air traffic control system.
Jacobson said the airport’s continued reliance on people movers remains a “glaring weakness,” but added that “there are a lot of things actually in very good shape at Dulles right now,” including the AeroTrain.
“I’m not sure what he’s thinking,” Jacobson said of Trump. “His comments are non sequitur to the reality of this airport.”
Also Tuesday, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said the administration is continuing its efforts to repair the so-called “people movers” at Dulles that ferry travelers in between concourses. One of the vehicles, which are also called “mobile lounges,” crashed in November.
His department announced later Tuesday that it is inviting bids for a Dulles project that would build “completely new terminals and concourses” at the airport.
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Associated Press writer Rio Yamat contributed to this report from Las Vegas.