Love that the passenger enjoying the concessions before the mobile lounge leaves is reading a playboy 🤦‍♂️

I remember riding this lounge once when I was like 8, and it still is such a cool experience. It’s definitely not used today the way it was intended by this video, but nevertheless is still a cool operation to see take place

Illustrations were excellent , thanks Charles/Ray

Mobile lounge, is THAT what they're supposed to be 😂

I don't think this design should die. In Europe, there are a lot of planes that park in the middle of the taxiway, and a bus takes you to the terminal. What if god forbid it rains and nobody wants to step outside in the rain. I wouldn't want to be welcomed to the airport that way. I'd rather just hop on one of those, and just get to the terminal, instead of being in a long line crammed into a little bus. The telescoping gangway is another way we could enter the airport, but there are a few problems, like time and money. The mobile lounges are good because it saves fuel for the planes, so there could be less of those pushback machines. Time and money could also be a problem for those, but nobody is optimistic about them. They are also commonly misused. They are called *Plane Mates* , and they're meant to dock directly with the planes, not take you from terminal to terminal. That's why there are the "AirTrains" or "SkyTrains". Those are what are supposed to take you from terminal to terminal, not the Plane Mates. In fact, Dulles recently installed them to replace the Plane Mates, and I don't think the design should die.

The mobile lounge concept definitely failed... Which is a shame, because I think there's something to it. It needs to be rethought for the age of 300+ passenger jumbo jets, security screening, priority boarding, and full carry-on bins.

I feel the failure of this concept could have been predicted even back then. A mobile, custom vehicle that is larger than usual, with plenty of moving parts to adjust to different plane shapes, heights and sizes is more prone to failure than a tunnel or even just a regular bus that is produced in much larger numbers. It is also more expensive to build custom vehicles. It also seems much less flexible than a tunnel which can accommodate late-comers and can split its capacity between an arbitrary number of people going to different flights at different times just going roughly in the same direction.

It's the end of the era of Mobile Lounges Dulles airport, he was replaced by Aerotrain Dulles, a small underground train to each terminal parking airplanes or departure lounge of Dulles airport. Old, Mobile lounge Budd Co., continues to operate in Dulles, but not conenctan aircraft, again just going from the main terminal to another terminal, they removed the access bridges the mobile lounge, which connect the plane. The Mobile Lounges were better going to the plane, rolling instead of walking in the gate.

At the time it was created, it was a smart idea, however as we progressed in building underground transit systems, we soon realized we could move away from mobile lounges like so, and simply just create long corridors. Still, at the time, it was a smart idea.

It was rather a novel experience being shuttled from main terminal to boarding hub or between hubs by a real person. Single pilot planes are next, then 💫💨 we'll be up there totally automated. Gee, I can't wait...😜

what magazine he was reading?

I love this. But you can also see the source of American obesity here. God forbid we ever walk!