Terminal 2 North – American Airlines

Terminal 2 North – American Airlines

Greeting at American Airline flights – Terminal 2 North

Greetings inside security

  • American Airlines at DCA will typically provide non-escort gate passes (“GAP”) for Honor Flight charters. Gate passes are not provided for departures, or for hubs flying commercial aircraft.
  • Gate passes are provided at the sole discretion of the airline. Honor Flight Network or the DCA Ground Crew has no control over the issuance or distribution of gate passes.
  • To request a gate pass for an American Airlines charter arrival, go to our scheduling page and find the corresponding link “Request a gate access pass here” for the flight desired. NOTE: if a link is not visible less than 30 days from the flight date, gate passes are not available for that flight.
  • Everyone must request a gate pass – even babes in arms. Once a request is made, a detailed email will be sent about ~24 hours prior to the flight date from honorflight.gap@gmail.com with parking options and instructions on picking up your gate pass on flight date.
  • Keep in mind that by requesting a gate pass, you will need to arrive and be parked at the airport and pick up your gate pass at least 1 hour prior to the first flight arrival of the day to clear security. If you miss this deadline, a gate pass will not be available. If you are unable to make this timeframe, please consider greeting outside security. DO NOT GO TO THE TICKET COUNTER AND REQUEST PASSES!
  • If you do receive and pick up a GAP for an arrival, it is also good for the departure on that same afternoon – so don’t discard it and please come back later that day.
  • Any questions, please email dcacoordinator@honorflight.org

Greetings outside security – Greeters are always welcome to greet our Heroes outside security as they arrive or depart from DCA. The schedule of arrival times into DCA, and the time the hubs are due back at the airport, are on our scheduling page.  Please note these times can be influenced by unexpected travel delays or early arrivals.  Please take this into consideration when planning your trip to DCA.

To greet outside security, just show up at the Terminal. There is no limit to the number of people that can greet outside security! If driving, park in the corresponding terminal parking garage. For arrivals, please plan to arrive at least 15 minutes before the estimated time of arrival. For departures, please plan to arrive at least 30 minutes before the scheduled return time to the airport to allow for early arrivals back to the airport.

  • If greeting a flight arriving in Terminal 2 North, the Veterans will exit security on the lower level Door 9. Greeters should ensure they are not blocking the pathway of other airport users.  Greeters can continue outside to wave the Veterans off after they load the buses.
  • If greeting a flight departing in Terminal 2 North you can line up inside Doors 5/6 on the upper level as they make their way down the escalators or elevators to TSA.