Charlotte-Douglas Airport (CLT) Expansion

[CLTaviation13]

Pretty smart on AA to re configure the gates on A con to park A330s. During the current summer ops 3 A330s park on the B concourse which take up 2 gates per A330. This will for sure alleviate B during the 4pm-7pm hours. 

Will be curious to see how many A330s they can park on A. I'm guessing  3 or 4 potential A330 spots on A?

Also, CLT is getting Saturday SDQ service and seasonal Traverse City.

Edited October 2, 2018 by JetBlueCLT

[xapostrophe]

40 minutes ago, JetBlueCLT said:

Pretty smart on AA to re configure the gates on A con to park A330s. During the current summer ops 3 A330s park on the B concourse which take up 2 gates per A330. This will for sure alleviate B during the 4pm-7pm hours. 

Will be curious to see how many A330s they can park on A. I'm guessing  3 or 4 potential A330 spots on A?

Also, CLT is getting Saturday SDQ service and seasonal Traverse City.

when does this begin?

[LKN704]

http://news.aa.com/news/news-details/2018/American-Airlines-Enhances-2019-Schedule/default.aspx

Both begin on 8 June 2019.

[CLTaviation13]

3 hours ago, xapostrophe said:

when does this begin?

Sorry for not including that. What LKN said, June 8th!

[xapostrophe]

50 minutes ago, JetBlueCLT said:

Sorry for not including that. What LKN said, June 8th!

Thank you.

 

Would be nice to see more growth in Charlotte.  Seems like DFW gets all the fun. I suspect after the new runway in Charlotte there might be more growth then.

[Miesian Corners]

CLT is gate constrained. When AA gains the 7 gates on A Concourse, it has said it plans to add up to 70 new mainline flights per day. 

[xapostrophe]

1 hour ago, Miesian Corners said:

CLT is gate constrained. When AA gains the 7 gates on A Concourse, it has said it plans to add up to 70 new mainline flights per day. 

70?  Do we have 10 Banks a day now?   That's a ton.  We are already at the limits on the runway and taxiway and ramp capacity.

 

To anyone who isn't a pilot on here expect longer taxi times and long flow control delays.

[LKN704]

Also in June, while not in the specific press release,  CLT-BGI will increase to daily, year-round service, whilst Liberia will also become year-round, operating on Saturdays and Sundays.

Liberia isn't surprising seeing how popular Costa Rica is right now. Bridgetown is more surprising, however, as the three times I've been there, I encountered almost no Americans. There were busloads of Brits, just no Americans. BGI is quite far as well, basically the same distance from CLT as San Diego is. That said, AA is the only US carrier besides JetBlue to fly there, so I guess they essentially have a duopoly on US-bound traffic.  DL discontinued their ATL flight last year, IIRC.

[Miesian Corners]

The new roadway lights are in test mode. More blue. 

[xapostrophe]

6 minutes ago, Miesian Corners said:

The new roadway lights are in test mode. More blue. 

the blue looks awesome. i dig it.

[atlrvr]

From 45 secs ago....standing at departures curb looking back at new Concourse A expansion....mmm...shiny lights.

[deleted]

2 hours ago, atlrvr said:

From 45 secs ago....standing at departures curb looking back at new Concourse A expansion....mmm...shiny lights.

Great pic.  Had time to kill prior to a flight.  That concourse A expansion is gorgeous IMO.  The renovation of B is not...

[Boricua]

On 10/2/2018 at 3:48 PM, xapostrophe said:

Thank you.

 

Would be nice to see more growth in Charlotte.  Seems like DFW gets all the fun. I suspect after the new runway in Charlotte there might be more growth then.

I would love to see more plane varieties fly into CLT. Besides the A330s it's 90% 319,320,321 into CLT. Would love to see 777s and Dreamliners.

[Miesian Corners]

3 hours ago, Boricua said:

I would love to see more plane varieties fly into CLT. Besides the A330s it's 90% 319,320,321 into CLT. Would love to see 777s and Dreamliners.

They're coming (much to my displeasure--I hate 3-3-3 configurations, not to mention sitting backwards in business). When the 330-300s are retired in 2020, the 787-900 will replace them. The 777-200 might rear its ugly head, but the 300ER is doubtful, as they have first class seats and are used primarily for premium markets that have people willing to spend $7000 for them (JFK-LHR, DFW-HKG).

[LKN704]

It appears AA is dropping CLT-TUS. It’s odd they cannot make this work given the strength of AA in the area. 

[ssh214]

41 minutes ago, LKN704 said:

It appears AA is dropping CLT-TUS. It’s odd they cannot make this work given the strength of AA in the area. 

They probably figured they would just route passengers through Phoenix... but Charlotte did get a nice add in Rapid City, South Dakota 

[CLTaviation13]

18 hours ago, Miesian Corners said:

They're coming (much to my displeasure--I hate 3-3-3 configurations, not to mention sitting backwards in business). When the 330-300s are retired in 2020, the 787-900 will replace them. The 777-200 might rear its ugly head, but the 300ER is doubtful, as they have first class seats and are used primarily for premium markets that have people willing to spend $7000 for them (JFK-LHR, DFW-HKG).

I myself hope the 787/777 stay far away from us. 3-3-3 configuration is mind numbing to me haha. I get the 789 will replace the A333s at some point. One can only hope the retirements keep getting pushed back. At least we’ll have the A332s.

Nice bump to daily on CLT-RAP next summer. That and BGR seem to be a real hit for AA in the summer seasonal routes out of here.

 Disappointed that AA can’t make ABQ/TUS work out of Charlotte. 

[CLT2014]

The new A Expansion Starbucks is open:

[Temeteron]

32 minutes ago, CLT2014 said:

The new A Expansion Starbucks is open:

Looks nice but when we have 11 other Starbucks in the airport it isn’t exciting anymore lol.  What will it take to get some more locally owned businesses in there? 

[KJHburg]

^^^The rent inside of the airport is as high is it is in SouthPark Mall the only AAA mall in town if not higher.    As a NY governor candidate once said "The rent is too damn high!"

[elrodvt]

It could be subsized for locals. 

[CharlotteWkndBuzz]

19 hours ago, Temeteron said:

Looks nice but when we have 11 other Starbucks in the airport it isn’t exciting anymore lol.  What will it take to get some more locally owned businesses in there? 

Noda Brewery is building a bar on the first level in the middle.  Looks to be pretty sizable and I can see it doing a lot of business. This Starbucks I believe is on the second level. 

*I was just in here a few weeks ago...funny thing is, I think they're building another Starbucks right as you enter that very long hallway going into the new concourse area (where the electronic video board art is: wavy, changing gears looking thing).  

Edited October 9, 2018 by CharlotteWkndBuzz

[J-Rob]

I think there is a practical element that CLT is a hub, and has many pass-through (connecting) customers.  Pass-through customers are often going to stick with the national brand they know.  I travel for work somewhat frequently, and while I don't drink coffee, many of my coworkers will walk past an unknown coffee brand to get to something they are familiar with and trust.   Coffee aside, there are a good number of locally owned restaurants, such as Whiskey River.

Edited October 9, 2018 by J-Rob

[CLT2014]

51 minutes ago, J-Rob said:

I think there is a practical element that CLT is a hub, and has many pass-through (connecting) customers.  Pass-through customers are often going to stick with the national brand they know.  I travel for work somewhat frequently, and while I don't drink coffee, many of my coworkers will walk past an unknown coffee brand to get to something they are familiar with and trust.   Coffee aside, there are a good number of locally owned restaurants, such as Whiskey River.

I agree.

HSM Host has tried to bring in a good mix of national brands everybody will recognize and local restaurants at CLT. NoDa Brewing and Olde Meck having their own locations in the airport further those efforts alongside Bad Daddy's, Whiskey River, etc...  NoDa and Olde Meck are also a lot bigger than any of our coffee shops. 

I suspect none of Charlotte's independent coffee shops really are at the scale or sophistication in their business operations to be ready to take on an airport location. They'd have to franchise the business to HSM Host, carry an expensive insurance policy to drive trucks onto airport property for deliveries, have the same delivery driver each day who has got through the TSA screening process and has a TSA approved ID, get a team of lawyers to read the hundreds of pages in the contract regarding liability/risk, offer a menu that works all day and have food in addition to the coffee, and have all the food and beverages certified by the TSA, etc... Any menu changes that bring in a new ingredient will require additional TSA approval for that bulk ingredient being delivered to the airport. Knives must be tracked via a serial number system and logged daily in the TSA database, etc... 

Edited October 9, 2018 by CLT2014

[xapostrophe]

30 minutes ago, CLT2014 said:

I agree.

HSM Host has tried to bring in a good mix of national brands everybody will recognize and local restaurants at CLT. NoDa Brewing and Olde Meck having their own locations in the airport further those efforts alongside Bad Daddy's, Whiskey River, etc...  NoDa and Olde Meck are also a lot bigger than any of our coffee shops. 

I suspect none of Charlotte's independent coffee shops really are at the scale or sophistication in their business operations to be ready to take on an airport location. They'd have to franchise the business to HSM Host, carry an expensive insurance policy to drive trucks onto airport property for deliveries, have the same delivery driver each day who has got through the TSA screening process and has a TSA approved ID, get a team of lawyers to read the hundreds of pages in the contract regarding liability/risk, offer a menu that works all day and have food in addition to the coffee, and have all the food and beverages certified by the TSA, etc... Any menu changes that bring in a new ingredient will require additional TSA approval for that bulk ingredient being delivered to the airport. Knives must be tracked via a serial number system and logged daily in the TSA database, etc... 

Which is totally nuts.

 

But I wish we had an Amelie's.