American Airlines Plans DFW Admirals Club Reopen, Closure of Terminal D Lounge
American Airlines is in the midst of a $200 million lounge renovation project. In addition to touching up Admirals Clubs, the world's largest airline has renovated and opened new Flagship Lounges in New York's JFK, Chicago (ORD), Miami (MIA) and now Los Angeles (LAX) — with more on the way.
This week, we got an update on the lounge situation in the airline's home base of Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW), including the planned reopen date of the Terminal A lounge and the upcoming Terminal D Flagship Lounge.
Terminal A: AA tried to remodel its Terminal A Admirals Club lounge while still leaving parts of the club open. That didn't work out so smoothly, so the airline closed the Terminal A lounge in late October. In November, the airline opened a Terminal A Admirals Club Guest Services center:
While I was flying through DFW this Tuesday, I got an informal update on the lounge renovation plans. Striking up a conversation with the agents at this temporary location, I wondered out loud when the Terminal A remodel would be complete. I was surprised to get a direct answer: April 4. I checked with a couple of other agents in the Terminal C Admirals Club and found the answer of April 4 to be universal.
Of course, construction delays can setback the planned opening of lounges. Understandably, when I asked an American Airlines spokesperson, she would only say that the airline is "targeting early April" for the DFW Admirals Club Terminal A reopening date. For now, April 4 seems to only be communicated internally.
Terminal D / Flagship Lounge: The bigger news is what's coming up next. The same DFW agents that I spoke with also shared the news that the Terminal D Admirals Club is shutting down shortly after the reopening of the Terminal A lounge.
I checked with American Airlines on this news and was able to get a confirmation from a spokesperson:
"We will close Admirals Club D after we open A in April. We’ll have a premium lounge near D35 that will be open to Business/First on qualifying itinerary plus elites — Platinums, Platinum Pros, Executive Platinums and ConciergeKeys."
For better or worse, passengers won't have to experience visiting the lounge while under construction because the entire lounge will be closed during the construction. Unfortunately, this doesn't mean that the renovation will be especially short. One agent mentioned an 18-month construction phase, and another agent said the lounge would be closed for "two years."
If you — like me — are a fan of AA's Terminal D Admirals Club with its sweeping gate and runway views, make sure to plan at least one last visit before it goes under the knife in April. We will have to wish it a prompt remodel and hope to see it soon as DFW's Flagship Lounge.
