# Mobile lounge
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{{short description|Bus-like system for boarding and disembarking from aircraft}}
[[Image:TransportationWashingtonDullesAirport.jpg|thumb|A mobile lounge at [Dulles International Airport](/source/Dulles_International_Airport)]]
[[File:Mobile Lounge Montréal.jpg|thumb|A mobile lounge vehicle in use at [Montréal–Trudeau International Airport](/source/Montr%C3%A9al%E2%80%93Trudeau_International_Airport)]]
A '''mobile lounge''' is an elevated bus-like vehicle used for boarding and disembarking from [aircraft](/source/aircraft), or for transportation between terminal buildings at an airport.
==Purpose==
The mobile lounge was an innovative feature of the [main terminal](/source/Dulles_International_Airport_Main_Terminal) at [Dulles International Airport](/source/Dulles_International_Airport), designed by [Eero Saarinen](/source/Eero_Saarinen).[{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/eerosaarinenshap0000saar |url-access=registration |page=[https://archive.org/details/eerosaarinenshap0000saar/page/304 304] |quote=Eero Saarinen mobile lounge. |date=2006 |title=Eero Saarinen: Shaping the Future |last1=Saarinen |first1=Eero |author1-link=Eero Saarinen |last2=Pelkonen |first2=Eeva-Liisa |last3=Albrecht |first3=Donald |publisher=[Yale University Press](/source/Yale_University_Press) |isbn=097248812X}}] Saarinen promoted the mobile lounge concept with a short animated film by [Charles and Ray Eames](/source/Charles_and_Ray_Eames).[{{cite web |title=The Expanding Airport |url=http://vimeo.com/4139559 |last1=Eames |first1=Charles |author1-link=Charles Eames |last2=Eames |first2=Ray |author2-link=Ray Eames |publisher=[The Office of Charles and Ray Eames](/source/Charles_and_Ray_Eames) |date=1958}}] Dulles Airport was the realization of the concepts expressed in the film. Dulles's designers thought that by shuttling from the main terminal directly to a midfield [jet ramp](/source/jet_ramp), they could save passengers from long walking distances amidst weather, noise, and fumes on the ramp. The advent of the [jet bridge](/source/jet_bridge) and construction of the two midfield concourse buildings at this airport canceled out the benefits of the system.
==Application==
The mobile lounge is used at [Dulles International Airport](/source/Dulles_International_Airport) in the U.S. state of [Virginia](/source/Virginia) and at [Montréal–Trudeau International Airport](/source/Montr%C3%A9al%E2%80%93Trudeau_International_Airport) in the Canadian province of [Quebec](/source/Quebec). The system was also previously used at [Montréal–Mirabel International Airport](/source/Montr%C3%A9al%E2%80%93Mirabel_International_Airport) until passenger services ceased in 2004, [John F. Kennedy International Airport](/source/John_F._Kennedy_International_Airport)'s International Terminal in [New York City](/source/New_York_City), [Baltimore/Washington International Airport](/source/Baltimore%2FWashington_International_Airport)[{{Cite web |title=Mobile Lounge (Planemate) Policy And Operating Procedures |url=https://marylandaviation.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/TD-BWI-209.1-Mobile-Lounge-Planemate-Policy-and-Operating-Procedures.pdf |website=marylandaviation.com}}] in [Baltimore](/source/Baltimore), [Mexico City International Airport](/source/Mexico_City_International_Airport) in [Mexico City](/source/Mexico_City) until 2007, [Charles de Gaulle Airport](/source/Charles_de_Gaulle_Airport) in [Paris](/source/Paris) and at [King Abdulaziz International Airport](/source/King_Abdulaziz_International_Airport) in [Jeddah, Saudi Arabia](/source/Jeddah%2C_Saudi_Arabia) until the early 2000s.
thumb|A mobile lounge at Mexico City International Airport
While it is still used at Dulles Airport, the growth in passenger numbers and aircraft capacity made it impractical to use mobile lounges for individual flights. Remote concourses were constructed, and the fleet of mobile lounges was reassigned to operate a shuttle between the concourses and the main terminal. On January 26, 2010, the [Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority](/source/Metropolitan_Washington_Airports_Authority) replaced the Dulles mobile lounge system for passenger movements between the Main Terminal and concourses A, B, and C with the underground [AeroTrain](/source/AeroTrain_(Dulles_International_Airport)). However, some mobile lounges and plane mates remain in use for passenger movements between the main terminal and Concourse D (until the replacement concourses C and D are built and the AeroTrain is built out to run in a continuous two-way loop), to disembark international passengers from all arriving international aircraft (with the exception of [United Airlines](/source/United_Airlines) and certain [Star Alliance](/source/Star_Alliance) flights, which are directly served at Concourse C's Federal Inspection Station; and flights from airports with border preclearance) and carry them to the International Arrivals Building, and to convey passengers between the main terminal and aircraft on [hard stands](/source/hardstand) (i.e., those parked remotely on the tarmac without access to jet bridges).[{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/25/AR2010012502837.html |title=Passenger train goes into operation Tuesday at Dulles airport |last=Rein |first=Lisa |date=26 January 2010 |newspaper=[The Washington Post](/source/The_Washington_Post) |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130209043725/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/25/AR2010012502837.html |archive-date=2013-02-09 |url-status=live |access-date=4 September 2021}}]
PTVs (Passenger Transfer Vehicles) are still in use at the [Philadelphia International Airport](/source/Philadelphia_International_Airport) at Terminals A-East and A-West. The PTVs are utilized to support international flights in A-East and A-West during peak times, when no regular gates are available.[{{Cite web |title=PHL: Passenger Transfer Vehicles Are No Thing of the Past {{!}} PHL.org |url=https://www.phl.org/newsroom/PTVs?fbclid=IwAR0LYhj9lRuLgps6m45v1lvkZXL1mOPP0EnPBhCe4y0oiNzSOM1TkzMFhdU |access-date=2022-05-29 |website=www.phl.org}}]
==Variants==
===Passenger Transfer Vehicle (PTV)===
The Passenger Transfer Vehicle or Passenger Transport Vehicle (PTV) (mobile lounge) is a 16.5-by-5-meter carriage mounted on a scissor truck, capable of carrying 102 passengers. These vehicles were designed by the [Chrysler Corporation](/source/Chrysler_Corporation) in association with the [Budd Company](/source/Budd_Company), and are nicknamed "moon buggies" due to their otherworldly appearance. When mobile lounges were first introduced, they had ramps at one end that could be raised or lowered to the floor height of an aircraft. However, after Dulles built the midfield concourses, some of the lounges were retrofitted to be used only for inter-terminal passenger transport. The ramps were removed and doors that could interlock with a terminal building were fitted to either end. Mobile lounges have a driver's cab at each end. The wheels at either end of the lounge can be steered, but the wheels at the end opposite the driver lock into a straight-ahead configuration so that the lounge is steered only by the forward driving wheels.
===NASA Crew Transport Vehicles===
Early in the space shuttle program, NASA used the Plane Mate system of mobile lounge to move [astronaut](/source/astronaut)s directly from the orbiter to crew facilities. A modified vehicle obtained from [Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport](/source/Baltimore%2FWashington_International_Thurgood_Marshall_Airport) in [Baltimore](/source/Baltimore), [Maryland](/source/Maryland) was used for shuttle landings at [Edwards Air Force Base](/source/Edwards_Air_Force_Base). A similar vehicle was used at the [Kennedy Space Center](/source/Kennedy_Space_Center) to take astronauts directly from the orbiter to the [Operations and Checkout building](/source/Kennedy_Space_Center), where the vehicle was again lifted up for the astronauts to exit directly onto the 2nd floor of the facility.[[http://images.jsc.nasa.gov/luceneweb/caption_direct.jsp?photoId=S91-38869 JSC Digital Image Collection] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130217070209/http://images.jsc.nasa.gov/luceneweb/caption_direct.jsp?photoId=S91-38869 |date=2013-02-17 }}][[http://lsda.jsc.nasa.gov/scripts/hardware/hardw.aspx?hardware_id=873 Hardware Information at NASA] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714161740/http://lsda.jsc.nasa.gov/scripts/hardware/hardw.aspx?hardware_id=873 |date=2014-07-14 }}]
==Gallery==
File:Crew Transport Vehicle at Baseline Data Collection Facility.jpg|NASA crew transport vehicle docked at data collection facility
File:Crew Transport Vehicle at Edwards Air Force Base (1991).jpg|NASA crew transport vehicle used to move space shuttle astronauts from the orbiter
File:Mobile lounge Washington Dulles Airport 2010.jpg|A plane mate at [Dulles International Airport](/source/Dulles_International_Airport)
File:Dules Airport mobile lounge 00775v.jpg|Original interior of a Dulles mobile lounge
==See also==
{{commons category|Mobile lounges|
Mobile lounges}}
*[Astronaut transfer van](/source/Astronaut_transfer_van)
*[Mobile Quarantine Facility](/source/Mobile_Quarantine_Facility)
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{Buses}}
Category:Buses by type
Category:Airport infrastructure
Category:Public transport by mode
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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Mobile lounge](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobile_lounge) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobile_lounge?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.