Trump vows to rebuild Dulles International Airport saying it's 'incorrectly designed'
Trump vows to rebuild Dulles Airport
Travelers at Dulles International Airport are reacting tonight after President Donald Trump said he wants to rebuild Dulles, calling it "incorrectly designed." FOX 5’s Tisha Lewis joins us from Sterling with more.
WASHINGTON - Travelers at Dulles International Airport are reacting after President Donald Trump said he wants to rebuild Dulles, calling it "incorrectly designed."
The president's motorcade took an unannounced drive through the terminal at Dulles last month. At the time, the White House said the president wanted to assess potential future projects.
Now, Trump has made it clear that he plans to rebuild the airport.
What he says:
"It’s not a good airport. It should be a great airport. It’s not a good airport at all, it’s a terrible airport," Trump said. "It was incorrectly designed, with a good building, actually, it’s got a beautiful terminal."
The president’s comments were made at the White House on Tuesday with Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy by his side. His administration says it's working on plans to repair the so-called "people movers" at Dulles after two crashed last month. The Department of Transportation is currently requesting bids for those repairs.
Local perspective:
FOX 5 spoke with travelers at Dulles who were split on the idea of rebuilding and redesigning the 62-year-old airport.
"I think there’s a lot of other more important infrastructure projects that could be done in the area besides redoing a functional and beautiful airport that's been working just fine for decades," one traveler told FOX 5.
Big picture view:
FOX 5 reached out to the Washington Metropolitan Airports Authority. They say they appreciate the administration’s interest in making improvements to Washington Dulles International Airport.
They went on to say, "We look forward to seeing the results of the U.S. Department of Transportation’s request for information and working collaboratively with the administration. We always embrace new ideas for Dulles, which is the fastest-growing international gateway airport in America."
The Airport Authority also tells FOX 5 they want to build on the existing $7 billion capital plan for Dulles, which is underway with a new concourse under construction and expected to open next fall.