CLT Airport bets a billion on future amid US Airways concerns

A lot of money has been invested at a lot of airports that aren't as busy as they used to be. Examples include PIT, CVG, CLE, DAY, CMH, STL and BNA. I'm sure there are others.
 
Didn't PIT spend money on renovations only to watch US pull out?

Something interesting...
...while Delta Airlines also has been reportedly studying a merger with US Airways.

Wouldn't that be a kick in the jewels :blink:
 
Didn't PIT spend money on renovations only to watch US pull out?

Something interesting...
...while Delta Airlines also has been reportedly studying a merger with US Airways.

Wouldn't that be a kick in the jewels :blink:
MAN O MAN, SOUNDS LIKE DEJA VU TO ME! BIG TIME.
 
Look at LAS. Before the D gates were half open they were signing for contracts for T3, another 14 gates. Once the D gates got finished, within a year half were shut down, along with part of the A and B concourse. Terminal 3 is opening up this summer. The closures are only due to the flight cutbacks from the economy, and the economy WILL turn around. The general public looks at today and tomorrow, airports look at the next two decades.
 
Look at LAS. Before the D gates were half open they were signing for contracts for T3, another 14 gates. Once the D gates got finished, within a year half were shut down, along with part of the A and B concourse. Terminal 3 is opening up this summer. The closures are only due to the flight cutbacks from the economy, and the economy WILL turn around. The general public looks at today and tomorrow, airports look at the next two decades.

And that white elephant better known as "T3" will open soon while other parts of LAS continue to be closed off, and the 'solution' for the Airport Authority has been to increase landing fees... how did that work for PIT?

Now the justification, is that the current international terminal "needs" to be torned down, and the new T3 will serve, in part, for the international arrivals, thus eliminating some excess gates. Of course, there are still closed down sections in A-Gates and the relatively new D-Gates still have about a dozen gates closed. And while we are at it for a new $2 billion terminal, let's build a $100 million tower... afterall, its "free" stimulus money, right?

Personally, unless an city is a "gotta have" location for a hub... ORD, EWR, ATL and alike, I would be uneasy about any serious massive expansion while airlines are doing their courtship dance.

So Views Jester.
 
And how's it working for MIA?

I'm guessing FLL doesn't mind.


Guess I am betting lets put the money where it is... there is not much traffic in LAS.... Much less Pit.... It is all about org boardings... not connecting... Pit... is not a large city.... it was all about connecting.... there is no money there.... CLT is a big city... so is PHL... PHL used to be a larger money maker for originating traffic but now CLT wins.. that is why the company is now making more new international destinations out of CLT

.
 
Guess I am betting lets put the money where it is... there is not much traffic in LAS.... Much less Pit.... It is all about org boardings... not connecting... Pit... is not a large city.... it was all about connecting.... there is no money there.... CLT is a big city... so is PHL... PHL used to be a larger money maker for originating traffic but now CLT wins.. that is why the company is now making more new international destinations out of CLT

.
CLT has a higher percentage of connecting traffic than any other airport in the country if I'm not mistaken. People aren't flying TO CLT, they are flying THROUGH CLT. You can send connecting traffic through any airport and it is generally much more price conscious than direct traffic.
 
Here is some old O&D data but I'm sure its very consistent you,

2009 Data

Metro Daily O&D total total O&D O&D % # of Airports

New York 127,801 51,883,694 23,131,981 44.60% 6 airports
LA Area 119,346 38,092,034 21,601,626 56.70% 6 airports <-----
DC Area 91,733 29,917,661 16,603,673 55.50% 3 airports <-----
SF Area 87,419 26,179,300 15,822,839 60.44% 3 airports <-----
Chicago 86,821 39,281,585 15,714,601 40.00% 2 airports
Miami 79,636 31,262,044 14,414,116 46.10% 3 airports
Las Vegas 73,138 20,224,090 13,237,978 65.50%
Orlando 68,040 18,211,975 12,315,240 67.60% 2 airports
Dallas/Ft.Worth 59,577 31,149,065 10,783,437 34.60% 2 airports
Atlanta 56,645 43,008,154 10,252,745 23.80%
Phoenix 54,040 18,968,897 9,781,240 51.60%
Denver 53,747 24,337,554 9,728,207 40.00%
Boston 44,673 12,068,312 8,085,813 67.00%
Seattle 43,376 14,787,443 7,851,056 53.10%
Philadelphia 41,860 14,878,298 7,576,660 50.90%
Houston 39,021 23,606,848 7,062,801 29.90% 2 airports
Tampa 38,865 8,888,162 7,034,565 79.20%
San Diego 36,242 8,171,820 6,559,802 80.30%
Minneapolis 34,399 16,173,119 6,226,219 38.50%
Detroit 33,128 15,715,346 5,996,168 38.20%
Salt Lake City 22,696 9,988,837 4,107,976 41.10%
St. Louis 22,361 6,258,829 4,047,341 64.70%
Portland 22,144 6,116,995 4,008,064 65.50%
Sacramento 20,175 4,356,274 3,651,675 83.80%
Kansas City 19,973 4,685,648 3,615,113 77.20%
Charlotte 19,562 17,215,648 3,540,722 20.60%
 
And that white elephant better known as "T3" will open soon while other parts of LAS continue to be closed off, and the 'solution' for the Airport Authority has been to increase landing fees... how did that work for PIT?

Now the justification, is that the current international terminal "needs" to be torned down, and the new T3 will serve, in part, for the international arrivals, thus eliminating some excess gates. Of course, there are still closed down sections in A-Gates and the relatively new D-Gates still have about a dozen gates closed. And while we are at it for a new $2 billion terminal, let's build a $100 million tower... afterall, its "free" stimulus money, right?

Personally, unless an city is a "gotta have" location for a hub... ORD, EWR, ATL and alike, I would be uneasy about any serious massive expansion while airlines are doing their courtship dance.

So Views Jester.

No Jester, it's got nothing to do with the airlines merging or not merging. A city needs "X" amount of passenger capacity. A city will need "Y" in 10 years, and "Z" in 20 years. Because of the way budgeting and grants work airports plan FAR in advance. The only glitch has been the current economic situation which broke all the rules and predictions. Once we get past that people will again be complaining that the airports are too busy and crowded.
 
it doesn't change the fact that 4 out of every 5 passengers boarding at CLT are just connecting which is the highest percentage of any hub - but more significantly CLT is a hub for the smallest network airline which has been fighting to not be squeezed out of the party by larger competitors and is now staking its future on an acquisition of AA in which US has been far from convincing regarding the value it can add.
The CLT expansion is relatively low cost for all they are adding... but if the US hub becomes part of a much larger airline network - such as UA or AA's - then CLT does not need to be as big and the facility costs become a lot higher per passenger.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 person
A margially interesting piece from The Atlantic is here. Not much here that most won't already know, but it does make some interesting compare/contrasts between total flights in a city vs. O & D, and so on.
 
it doesn't change the fact that 4 out of every 5 passengers boarding at CLT are just connecting which is the highest percentage of any hub - but more significantly CLT is a hub for the smallest network airline which has been fighting to not be squeezed out of the party by larger competitors and is now staking its future on an acquisition of AA in which US has been far from convincing regarding the value it can add.
We all know you'll never be convinced.

I was surprised to see ATL at 23.8%, slightly above CLT at 20.6%.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 person