I remember there was this deal, where if you were a first class passenger, there was this elevated “bus” like vehicle that would take you from the lounge to the airplane (probably a 747). No going out onto the tarmac in those pre-jetway days. Total comfort, all the way.
Well, I can’t find any pictures or information on these. What were they called? Did any airports actually use them? (Sounds like a JFK type of deal, Pan Am or TWA).
Dulles.
You’re talking about a mobile lounge.
It seems that the modern jet bridge was more convenient and practical, and so replaced them.
Cool! Thanks!
When you know what to call them, I see lots of pictures are available. I was searching for “JFK transfer lounge” and such, but got no matches.
They weren’t only for first class though. As I recall, that was the way all passengers got from the terminal to the plane at Dulles.
Yeah, I did a trip to Washington in about 1982. There was a long, narrow building away from the main terminal and the planes parked next to it like cars parallel parking next to a sidewalk. The lounges would come to the door of the plane, pick up a load of passengers, and shuttle them to the terminal. Probably seemed like a good idea at the time, but I notice they don’t do it that way anymore.
Dulles still has some. They’re used to shuttle passengers between different parts of the airport, and I think also for arriving international flights where the airline only has domestic gates.
I remember that in one of the Airport movies the airliner took off from Dulles and they did use a mobile lounge. In the movie it looks quite plush but in those days even coach class did the same, and particularly in the prominently advertised new widebody transports.
Jetways go all the way back to the 1960s, but were much less common back then. When widebody jets first came in, the jetways weren’t always compatible so sometimes you’d have to go outside across the tarmac and then climb up a double-height flight of stairs. Meanwhile, riding a bus or similar transport from the terminal gate out to the aircraft seems to have been somewhat common overseas.
I used one of these in Rome about 1996. In Europe it’s quite common to be ferried by bus to the airplane and then have to climb the steps. But this was a bus that raised up on a scissor jack and mated with the plane door. All passengers used it, even the poor people in coach like myself.
Not sure if they’re still in use there, most google searches bring up Dulles.
Airport 1975.