President Donald Trump is expected to unveil a sweeping $22 billion plan to remake Washington Dulles International Airport, a facility he has frequently complained about and called “terrible.”
Citing sources with knowledge of the matter, Reuters said Trump will formally announce the plan alongside U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy and United CEO Scott Kirby at the White House on Wednesday.
The plan reportedly includes construction of four new concourses, as well as rehabilitation of some existing infrastructure.
The administration has been planning an overhaul of Dulles since late last year, when the Transportation Department began soliciting renovation and improvement ideas from private-sector contractors. Trump has praised the airport’s 63-year-old main terminal, designed by architect Eero Saarinen, but also maintains it was laid out wrong and said the facility has become dysfunctional and run-down.
Pointing to airports in other national capitals, the president has said Dulles must be upgraded to properly reflect the wealth and power of the U.S.
Trump is not alone in his criticisms. Passengers and some elected officials who rely on Dulles have derided its “mobile lounges,” bus-like vehicles used to connect passengers to their flights. The lounges were considered groundbreaking in the 1960s, but they are now viewed as outdated, especially since the opening of the underground AeroTrain system in 2010.
Travelers have also grumbled about the smell of jet fuel emanating from certain areas at Dulles, and the dated look of its concourses.
Separately, the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority, which operates Dulles, is moving forward with a $7 billion capital plan to renovate the airport. It is not clear if or how the two efforts will be coordinated.
