Yes, folks, our BIG day is coming on Tuesday the 20th. A day that we have never experienced before — 385 veterans arriving on five (5) different flights in the morning. We will have veterans from West Central Florida, Southwest Florida, Peoria, Oklahoma, and Mid-Michigan. The planes will land at 7:00, 8:00, 9:30, 10:00, and 10:30 AM. This is an excellent chance to make lots and lots of veterans know that they are valued and that we appreciate the sacrifice that they made for our country and all of us.

Starting at 4:00 PM, the buses will return at 4:00, 5:00, 6:00, and 7:00. (Mid-Michigan will return at 6:00 PM on Wednesday.)

Whether you come to Dulles for one arrival and/or departure, or you come for all the morning arrivals or all the evening departures, it will be a memorable day! After this, there are only six (6) more flights until we end the season on 17 November. Come on out and join us as much as possible!

Signups close on Sunday afternoon (10/18).

Dulles Airport Operations has provided an update on the progress of the parking lot repaving operation … subject to change … as usual. Work will continue through November 19th.

We know that trying to find an empty spot can be frustrating when you are coming to greet the arriving or departing veterans. However, remember that these veterans went through so much more than looking for a parking place during their service to our country. Surely you can put up with some inconvenience or out-of-pocket parking expense to show these veterans how much we appreciate their service.

Starting Thursday (10/8) with Permian Basin’s arrival, we have flight activity on almost every day until October 21st. We have flights on: 8th, 9th, 10th, 12th, 13th, 14th, 15th, 18th, the BIG day of the 20th, and the 21st. Then four days off!

With that many flights, surely there are one or more that you can squeeze into you calendar to greet our veterans. While the parking lot project is still not finished, folks have been finding spaces to park.

Click HERE to go to the signup page. Remember, the signups close between 48 and 36 hours before the plane lands or buses return.

If you want lots of opportunities to greet our honored veterans, this is the month to do it. We have fifteen, yes count them, 15 days with flights arriving and departing. On the 10th, we have three planes arriving and three planes departing. Then on the 20th, we have five (5) planes arriving between 7 and 10:30 am. Then we have four (4) planes departing between 4 and 7 pm. We’ve never had a busy day like that before! Make it a whole day outing with a pizza lunch at Cafe Americana between flights … they do have great pizza! To sign up for any of these flights, click HERE.

In spite of limited parking or having to pay for parking, we had a wonderful sendoff group to say farewell to the Utah and Idaho veterans on Wednesday evening. Thank you to all who made the extra effort to give them a loud and exciting sendoff. There were many veterans and some staff members who commented to me as they boarded their planes of how much they appreciated everyone who shook their hand, cheered for them, and otherwise made the end of their visit so special.

A special thanks goes out to all the Young Men’s Service League gentlemen and parents who made up a large part of the greeters. Your dedication to coming to greet the veterans is truly inspirational and very much appreciated.

Hope to see more folks to greet Greater Peoria on the 8th and Upper Peninsula on the 9th. Perhaps the parking lot will be done by then. Cross your fingers.

The repaving work on the parking lot is continuing nicely. A significant portion of the lot has been completed so there MIGHT be parking spaces available when you come to greet our honored veterans. Mornings and afternoons will still be more crowded with evenings having a greater possibility of finding a spot. Parking placards are now being sent out to those who sign up. Give it a try before heading to a garage or lot.

Of course, please feel free to come by Metro, park in the garages, or the remote lots and take the shuttle in. The veterans still deserve a rousing welcome or farewell so we hope that you will still continue to come to the airport. The airport has been very good to us in the past and we know that the free parking will continue in the future once the repaving is completed and the lot is fully open to us again.

The schedule and signups for all of our fall flights has been posted and is ready for our fabulous greeters to start planning for and signing up to attend these greetings. Click HERE to go to the signups.

Keep in mind that arrival/departure times can potentially change during our “summer break”.

If you choose to park on your own instead of FOR FREE (following our instructions), be aware that the parking rates have increased.

The maximum charge in the terminal lot in front is now $40.

The maximum rate in Garages 1 & 2 is now $25.

To get free parking at Dulles airport requires getting a parking placard and the directions to the parking lot.

We’ve learned that some groups have an “internal” signup process so they know how many people from the group will be attending. Unless the group redistributes the instructions and placard to its members, the Honor Flight at Dulles team has no way of knowing who needs the information.

If you are a driver, the best bet for you to get the instructions and placard is to fill out the signup form on our website. Unless you misspell your email address (and that still happens), you will get the information in your email 48 to 36 hours before the plane lands or buses return to Dulles.

The signups are here — heroeswelcomeiad.com

In order to assist you in planning your visits to Dulles Airport to greet our veterans, we’ve posted the schedule as we know it today. We know that there will be changes throughout the season so check back periodically for those changes. Just follow the link below to get started.

https://heroeswelcomeiad.com/2026-spring-signups/