We have learned this weekend that the East Employee lot where we normally park for free is being repaved. WE CANNOT PARK THERE UNTIL THE PROJECT IS COMPLETED later in September. Even employees are being directed to park elsewhere.

IF YOU ARE STILL INCLINED TO GREET OUR HONORED VETERANS, 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. We apologize for this late notice and the inconvenience this causes. 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 lot is open to us again.

We have been informed by Dulles Airport Operations that a gate is not available for the airplane that is bringing the Great River veterans here on Thursday. Their plane is small and can only dock at a few gates at the airport. Instead, their bus will meet them out on the runway in the morning and deliver them back to the plane in the evening.

We will try again on September 1st and 2nd to have everyone come greet our honored veterans.

We are about one week away from the closing of the signup to come greet our first set of veterans of the Fall.

On Thursday, 20 August, we will have the honor of greeting 20 veterans coming on the Great River Honor Flight from St. Louis. Their plane will land at 9:00 am and their bus will return at 6:00 pm. To sign up, click HERE.

The next two flights after this one will arrive on Tuesday, 1 September and depart on Wednesday, 2 September. We will be greeting veterans from Provo, Utah and Pocatello, Idaho.

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”.

The Honor Flight of the Ozarks was our last flight of the spring season. When they headed back to Springfield, MO this evening, we closed out our busiest season ever — 41 flights. For each and every arrival and departure, we always had greeters there to thank our honored veterans for their service and to welcome them to town to see their memorials. Whether it was a couple dozen people or 250, you made an impression of the veterans. Each and every one of you who came to Dulles in the heat, the cold, and the rain certainly brought a smile to their faces and made them feel welcome. We’ve heard numerous comments of how much they enjoyed and appreciated seeing each greeter as well as our musicians.

We can’t make any of this happen without the tremendous and generous support of the management of Dulles Airport along with all their employees who made the public and behind-the-scenes efforts to make the transition through the terminal from plane to buses as easy as possible. Of course, without their support, parking for all of us would not be free!

We are now on our summer break. But don’t worry — the fall schedule will be released on 8 July so you can start planning to come greet starting on 20 August for our 37 flights in the fall.

The last Honor Flight of the spring season will be on Tuesday, 7 July. The veterans with Honor Flight of the Ozarks will arrive at 8:00 am to head downtown to visit their memorials for the day. They will come back to Dulles at 4:30 pm. Why not round out your America’s 250th 4th of July celebrations by coming to Dulles to greet the arrival or departure of our honored heroes? It’s the perfect way to end the spring season before beginning your summer activities.

Due to all the 4th of July activities, the signup will close early on July 1st to allow our staff to enjoy the busy holiday weekend with their families. Take this opportunity to signup now by clicking HERE so you won’t miss out on getting the instructions and FREE parking placard.

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/

The spring Honor Flight Season has come to an end.  When the Greater Peoria veterans headed home on Tuesday evening, the Honor Flight Ground Crew breathed a collective sigh of relief.  While we love having all the veterans come to see their memorials, it’s been a busy spring season with a total of 2306 veterans arriving at Dulles.

The fall season will start on 13 August with the veterans from Honor Flight of the Ozarks and end on 11 November with Honor Flight Columbus.  It’s also going to be a busy season with a total of 2356 veterans scheduled to visit with us.  To see the tentative schedule, click HERE.

We would like to thank the multitude of greeters who came to Dulles to greet our heroes.  You made them smile. You made them tear up.  You made them feel proud.  You gave them the welcome home that many never received.  It’s what we are all about and we hope to see you in the fall.