If you’ve ever had the joy of using Gate 35X at Reagan National Airport (DCA) will be happy to hear that changes are underway at the airport. If you haven’t had the opportunity to experience it yourself, Gary mentions a few of the finer points of the gate situation in a post about “Project Journey”.
What You Can Expect
This year, the plan includes mostly road construction on the lower level roadways (Arrivals), moving utilities and construct foundations for the new security screening areas, and breaking ground for the new 14-gate concourse.
According to this page, there should be no noticeable impact on existing flight or security checkpoint operations. The road construction in Arrivals will require some lane closures starting next week. There is a good chance that these closures will impact traffic around the airport.
Initially, closures will be during overnight hours but are expected to extend into regular daytime hours throughout the spring. According to this article, a recent press release also noted that there will be some temporary changes inside the terminal that could impact the check-in process for some passengers.
Expected End Results
In the end, there will be two new security screening checkpoints with space for 28 screening lanes. There will be more space for restaurants and shops post-security and the screening process should be more streamlined. Once the new concourse opens, it will replace the busing operations for regional jets from Gate 35X. The new concourse is also reportedly going to be home to an American Admirals Club Lounge.
I’m glad to hear that DCA should finally be able to accommodate the high number of passengers it sees each year. I’m not looking forward to the lane closures that are starting next week. In my experience, getting a car around in Arrivals is already bad enough.
Have you ever flown out of Gate 35X at DCA?
This site is part of an affiliate sales network and receives compensation for sending traffic to partner sites, such as thepointsguy.com. This may impact how and where links appear on this site. Responses are not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser. Some or all of the card offers that appear on the website are from advertisers and that compensation may impact on how and where card products appear on the site. Any opinions expressed in this post are my own, and have not been reviewed, approved, or endorsed by my advertising partners and I do not include all card companies, or all available card offers. Terms apply to American Express benefits and offers and other offers and benefits listed on this page. Enrollment may be required for select American Express benefits and offers. Visit americanexpress.com to learn more. Other links on this page may also pay me a commission - as always, thanks for your support if you use them
User Generated Content Disclosure: Points With a Crew encourages constructive discussions, comments, and questions. Responses are not provided by or commissioned by any bank advertisers. These responses have not been reviewed, approved, or endorsed by the bank advertiser. It is not the responsibility of the bank advertiser to respond to comments.
Dan Miller travels with his wife and 6 (SIX!) children. He loves to help families travel for free / cheap, especially larger families. If you are looking for help, drop him an email at 
I’ve gone out of DCA 100++ times. As much as it is handling more pax than that for which it was designed, it remains a fantastic airport and handles more passengers, in a far superior fashion, than IAD. And the last thing they need to improve is security. They regularly have lanes that are not manned and obviously not being used.
I am not persuaded that these “improvements” are required.
Timely. I flew out of 35X yesterday. That gate setup is inefficient, but DCA overall with CLEAR doesn’t seem that bad. The AC in C could be larger though. I’m sure it gets crowded quickly.