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Dulles Does it Better

Posted by Janelle Nanos on August 22, 2008
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Photo: Sand Crawler

I nearly missed a flight out of Dulles Airport two weeks ago, thanks in part to the tiresome “mobile lounges” straight out of Star Wars (apparently, Jaunted has dubbed them Jawa Sand Crawlers) that shuttle passengers from the main terminal to their gates at a pace that a snail would envy. So I was happy to hear in the Washington Post that Dulles Airport recently announced plans to build an underground AeroTrain that will transport travelers at a much quicker pace (they’ll leave every two minutes), and restore the light and airiness that was intended for the terminal’s original design. And on an even better, eco-friendly note, the new trains mean that the airport will faze out the diesel-fueled behemoths, which often had to wind between planes as they taxied to the gate. But I’m wondering, what do you frequent fliers think of the switch? Are you Star Wars fans going to miss the chance to feel like Hans Solo before your flight?

Photo: People movers and Sand Crawlers, via Jaunted

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Comments

  1. Chas
    August 22, 2008, 3:41 pm

    Great! Send those crawlers to the scrapyard fast so sandpeople can reuse the materials and make some cool droids.

  2. ML Harris
    August 22, 2008, 4:11 pm

    Fly National and BWI instead.

  3. Noah
    August 25, 2008, 11:57 am

    So: a pace that a snail would envy. Is the snail jealous that the shuttle is going even slower than it is? Or faster? Because even though snails are kind of synonomous with slowness, I’ve got to believe that it’s not actually something they’re proud of. At least that’s what my snail friends tell me.
    Either way, good ridance to the shuttles. Now please build the Silver Line out to there, and I might actually use Dulles.

  4. Janelle
    August 25, 2008, 1:41 pm

    Noah surfaces! I meant that the only creature that could possibly be jealous of the speed of the people movers would be snails. Or perhaps sloths. I’m also hoping the silver line extends to Dulles, let’s hope their “we can build a subway” plan works out to that end…

  5. Katie
    August 25, 2008, 6:11 pm

    Please don’t inflate Noah’s head any larger than it already is by pretending he’s some sort of commenting superstar.

  6. Susan Kelley
    September 8, 2008, 5:42 pm

    FINALLY! I avoid Dulles mostly because of the atrocious slowness of those things. I wish they’d open the tarmac, because I can walk faster than those move.

  7. Dan @ Dulles Airport Parking
    August 14, 2010, 4:22 am

    It’s 2010 and I’m happy Dulles has finally built the AeroTrain to replace the mobile lounges. I still see a few of them being used, but I think they’ve been decommissioned, for the most part at IAD.