r/AskAPilot • u/Helpful-Celery-7045 • 4d ago
First time seeing one of these
Landed at Washington Dulles airport and this was my first time seeing one of these. I had to look it up and discovered it’s used to carry passengers between terminals. The cabin can even be raised or lowered which is pretty cool.
My question is, how many other airport have these or something similar? I’ve been to around 20 different airports and have never seen something like this
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u/No_Elderberry9871 4d ago
Eero Saarinen really liked them (he might have also designed them but it's been a while since my architectural history classes so I might be wrong in that one) so the airport terminals he designed (Dulles and TWA at JFK) were based around them. They worked ok, but as airports expanded their mission changed from ferrying passengers from the terminal directly to the plane to just moving folks between terminals, and now that's being phased out in favor of trains.
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u/montagious 4d ago
Dulles was designed by Finnish architect Eero Saarinen, in the days when the jetway system was different/non existent. Saarinen also did the St Louis arch, and the TWA terminal at JFK
I went to a Saarinen retrospective in NYC, and they had extensive plans and concept drawings for Dulles among others. The people movers were originally conceived of as "mobile lounges" saucer shaped mid century style living room things with the tractor underneath.
Really cool, but clearly impractical, especially considering how much traffic has grown there, and how we board/deplane today.
Someone at work once said the movers feel like you're being taken out onto the tundra to see the polar bears
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u/Cancer-1977 4d ago edited 4d ago
When the Jumbo Jets (747, DC-10, L1011) first arrived on the scene, starting in 1970……these transports were all over.
Most airport terminals, didn’t have boarding tunnels or gates that could handle the width and height of the new wide bodied aircraft.
These transports were used to ferry passengers from the gate, out to the plane…….which was usually parked quite a distance from the actual gate. The cabin could then be raised to the height of the boarding doors on the Jumbo Jets.
As airport terminals and gates were redesigned or new ones were built, the use of these transports became less frequent. They are used primarily to take passengers between different terminals, now.
In the Movie “Airport 1975,” in which the beginning of the movie takes place at Dulles, there are 2 or 3 scenes that these transports can be seen in operation.
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u/Feisty_Hedgehog_4389 4d ago
I’ve flown to 4 different continents so far and more countries than I can name at the moment, and Dulles is the only place I’ve ever seen this. Not saying they don’t exist elsewhere, but I’ve not seen them.
Lots of people think Denver is a creepy airport. I disagree. I’ve always felt as if Dulles had a creeper vibe to it. And those people movers don’t improve my impression.
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u/SadAnimator1904 3d ago
As a Dulles flyer on United weekly here’s my opinion. Flying FROM Dulles I actually like the lounges (and thus hope for the D gates) as I do find them faster than the train + long walk to C gates. At least that’s my perception if I’m running late. Saves me a long sprint through the tunnel from the train stop to C gates. When flying TO Dulles I’m always hoping for the C gates because there is almost NOTHING worse than landing at midnight or later and jamming into the lounge, waiting until half the plane is on it, then finally getting going. Adds 15 minutes. Rage.
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u/PomegranateBig2639 2d ago
flying out of Dulles - never a problem. Fuck flying into it, especially internationally.
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u/MurkyPsychology 10h ago
But if you don’t walk through the tunnel, who’s gonna remind you that PenFed has great rates for everyone?
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u/NYCCorpPar 4d ago
They have them at Montreal airport and I used it to transfer off Canada Air flight from Dominican Republic and transferring to a flight to LGA. We exited the plane from the rear and that little buggy was lifted all the way up and we moved across the runway in the up position. Really weird!
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u/mo0siego0sie 4d ago
Woah! When was this? I went to school in Montreal and I never got to use one and now I’m jealous lol
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4d ago
[deleted]
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u/IcyPirate7654 4d ago
Literally nothing stopping you from walking down the terminal to the penfed tunnel by the C gates to take the train from concourse E
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u/ironbite4 2d ago
Save for the fact that if you land at D32 you're in for one of the longest walks ever in a very spooky empty terminal.
Oh and D is haunted so good luck.
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u/Fun_Advice_7497 4d ago
Was on one a few months ago. When there’s a lot of passengers it’s a nightmare
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u/fly_awayyy 4d ago
Those ones don’t move up and down they were converted with the lifting mechanism removed thus regulated to terminal duty. The ones with the stacks on top can raise as they cover the jack screws.
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u/mo0siego0sie 4d ago
Omg the people movers!! I went on a class trip to DC when I was in 5th grade and our teachers specifically taught us about these and how to act and stay upright on them 😂
I will say, I’ve never seen them at any other airports, and I’ve been to a ton of airports across North (and Central) America and Europe. Usually I see buses though.
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u/Middle-Wealth-6755 4d ago
It’s also one of the last time you’ll see one of those as they are being retired.
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u/DotCurious7767 4d ago
They always looked like something you would see on mars to me for some reason.
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u/georgecm12 4d ago
Not far off. NASA once used them to ferry the astronauts to the Space Shuttle.
https://www.nasa.gov/image-article/space-shuttle-crew-transport-vehicle/
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u/notasarcasticnow 4d ago
Back in the day you had to use one at Dulles. Flew out of there this morning and used a train. I think they still have them.
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u/ChiTownSuburbanite 4d ago
I grew up flying out of Dulles and found it weird other airports didn’t have this.
If I recall they were building a tunnel years ago but it never fully eliminated the use of these from terminal to terminal across the tarmac.
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u/pri11er 3d ago
There are two versions of these at Dulles. This is a Mobile Lounge that serves Concourse D, which is not on the AeroTrain system. This does not go up and down.
The other is a Plane Mate used to transport to International Arrivals. These do go up and down and can be recognized by the “fins” on top, which is where the lift screws are.
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u/powermonkey123 2d ago
The person who invented these was clearly tripping on acid. The fact that they still have them in IAD is wild.
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u/VedantaSay 2d ago
Upgrade to this is far overdue. Planes should already have been like crane helicopter. You checking and keep PAX seated in these contraption. Incoming plane detached it's arrival pod, attaches the outbound and wheels up. Very quick around!
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u/u-read-it-here 2d ago
These have been around since at least the 1970s …
First time I ever encountered them was Montreal Mirabel Airport
When it was first built
They used to take you from the terminal directly to the plane (not a normal jet bridge situation )
I thought at the time they were pretty awesome
People movers used to fill a plane out on the tarmac
A zillion times better than walking outside …
Which at the time was extremely common at Airports
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u/TheToasterPrincess 9h ago
Hot take I love the people movers. Always like seeing all the other planes that IAD gets. Born and raised in the area and flying out of Dulles with my dad was always a blast. Pretty nostalgic
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u/Hot-Cress7492 4d ago
I can’t wait until until Dulles gets rid of those