Jump to content

Charlotte-Douglas Airport (CLT) Expansion

uptownliving

By uptownliving
in Charlotte

 Share

Recommended Posts

carolinagarnet Hamlet

carolinagarnet

Posted
Posted

There was an article recently- maybe in the Observer?- discussing the CEO of AA's opposition to merging, citing his desire to bring AA back as an independent company. My guess is that if a merger were currently in the beginning stages, they wouldn't let me speak publicly about US Airways, particularly in the way he has been. The deal feels like an inevitability even if it takes a while to get past AA's issues with it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 10.5k
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

Popular Days

Top Posters In This Topic

Popular Days

Popular Posts

Mgelbach
Mgelbach

I was up taking pictures at the hourly deck, which has a great vantage point of the terminal expansion!  

Mgelbach
Mgelbach
J-Rob
J-Rob

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Posted Images

ScottCLT Burg

ScottCLT

Posted
Posted

Small airport update: Beau de Vin has opened in the atrium area, and looks quite nice with wine glass chandeliers. Also, US did a makeover on their check-in counters, with new signs with backlit outlines - looks very nice! I do wish they would have stayed consistent with the newer check-in counters between C and D checkpoints, though. Nice, nonetheless.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
  • 3 weeks later...
kermit Megalopolis

kermit

Posted
Posted

Looks like Jerry Orr has penciled in the fifth runway. Environmental studies next year and construction to begin "possibly" in 2014. He also said he will begin a "small portion" of the new international concorse sooner than expected to provide extra gates that have been requested by Delta, United and Southwest.

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2012/08/27/3482855/charlotte-douglas-plans-fifth.html

Link to comment
Share on other sites
HopHead City

HopHead

Posted
Posted

Glad that Orr plans to address the needs of airlines like United, Delta and Southwest. I typically fly US Airways, but had to use one of the other guys last month so that put me in Concourse A. Not sure if it's a constant problem, but that Concourse was way too congested. I think they could make it a 20 gate concourse and it would be fine...

Link to comment
Share on other sites
dubone Megalopolis

dubone

Posted
Posted

I love how they built the farther one first so that the one in between would easier to get approval, plus previous articles said they did a lot of the grading for it already.

Having the extra runway capacity will be good for retaining the hub and making travel as easy as possible through Charlotte.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
tozmervo Metropolis

tozmervo

Posted
Posted

Please explain to me how another runway will EASE air traffic noise. How is this different from the methodology of additional highway lanes..."if you build it increased traffic volume will come."??

Hah, I had the same thought. The only thing I can reckon is that it would spread the planes out a little more, so you wouldn't have so many on a single approach path. Otherwise it sounds like hogwash.

I love how they built the farther one first so that the one in between would easier to get approval, plus previous articles said they did a lot of the grading for it already.

Well dang, I had wondered why the 4th runway was so far out. They can accommodate an additional runway along with the intermodal station in there?

Link to comment
Share on other sites
dubone Megalopolis

dubone

Posted
Posted

Yes, the new runway being discussed is just east of the intermodal yards.

The logic on the noise is that the far west runway would then switch to take-off only, so the neighborhoods negatively affected by landings on that runway would be less affected. However, it is obviously not the real motivation for the change. It is obvious that it is the fact that the next runway costs much less than the previous because of the grading already done, and that they have the ability to make it much longer for the new generation of aircraft that we can't serve now. Based on the master plan, the international terminal will be built in a way to accommodate those larger aircraft.

I think in the end, having the extra runway will be both help delays and capacity, and help reduce the long time it takes landing planes to get to the airport.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
49er Hamlet

49er

Posted
Posted

So...we're going to be on a billion plus dollar expansion bonanza. Will we ever get a more impressive terminal out of this? I know they are planning to add to the existing terminal but the additions always have the effect of looking just like what they are, additions. There's just nothing impressive architecturally speaking about anything at CLT. Terminal 2 at RDU is really impressive to me and I see nothing along those lines yet. i wonder if they would reskin the existing terminal when the addition takes place?

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Guest

Guest

Posted
Posted

I say keep it as is. Its the utilitarian aspect of our airport that gets it so much business. Its a leading airport because it gets the job done and runs efficiently and doesn't have the expensive frills of other airports. As long as it doesn't look completely outdated, we are fine.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
ah59396 Town

ah59396

Posted
Posted

I say keep it as is. Its the utilitarian aspect of our airport that gets it so much business. Its a leading airport because it gets the job done and runs efficiently and doesn't have the expensive frills of other airports. As long as it doesn't look completely outdated, we are fine.

I agree. I'd love for us to upgrade our terminals and all that good stuff, but the functionality of our airport is what is most important. Maybe down the road we can look to aesthetically upgrading the current facilities, but I would put that far down the line beyond extra runways, an international terminal and increased parking decks.

(And an LRT connection station.... :thumbsup:)

Link to comment
Share on other sites
dubone Megalopolis

dubone

Posted
Posted

So...we're going to be on a billion plus dollar expansion bonanza. Will we ever get a more impressive terminal out of this? I know they are planning to add to the existing terminal but the additions always have the effect of looking just like what they are, additions. There's just nothing impressive architecturally speaking about anything at CLT. Terminal 2 at RDU is really impressive to me and I see nothing along those lines yet. i wonder if they would reskin the existing terminal when the addition takes place?

The addition approach rather than an expensive rebuild is exactly why we have a relatively inexpensive airport. Our changes are quite utilitarian, but serve to make it slowly better. The expansion of the terminal, I suspect will use the concrete deck of the current roadbed as its floor, so even that will be done relatively on the cheap, but will have a more interesting curtain wall and so forth to look up to date, but not with monumental architecture like Dallas or even Raleigh like a build-from-scratch terminal could do. It is even surprising that we were tearing down the daily decks, but that was a sound decision given that it allows room both for the terminal expansion and for enough capacity for the rental car system, freeing up a massive amount of land for the international terminal.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
49er Hamlet

49er

Posted
Posted

Yes, I completely understand the utilitarian aspect of our airport and why we are so popular. The new decks are actually pretty attractive. In a perfect world, you end up with a built from scratch airport such as Denver that is really impressive (to me at least) despite being in the middle of nowhere.

My point was really that if we are spending a billion or so dollars, I hope that they spend the extra little bit to reskin the current terminal to match any additions that are done. Like it or not, airports do create a first impression when people arrive. Then again, I'm an infrastructure nerd so things like people mover systems really interest me...

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Norm2 Burg

Norm2

Posted
Posted

Yes, I completely understand the utilitarian aspect of our airport and why we are so popular. The new decks are actually pretty attractive. In a perfect world, you end up with a built from scratch airport such as Denver that is really impressive (to me at least) despite being in the middle of nowhere.

I just did a case study on the Denver Airport for school. That built from scratch airport was a nightmare to build and was 4 BILLION dollars over budget. It looks like a beautiful airport, but I would rather have a no frills airport than an airport than a beautiful airport with MASSIVE debt.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
HopHead City

HopHead

Posted
Posted

Given the choices, I'd much rather have non-stop flights to almost anywhere in the country and various European, Carribean and South American destinations. Shiny and architecturally pleasing terminals are nice, but they don't provide opportunities for economic growth either. All that being said, I would't complain if they spiffed up the outside skin of the terminal once the expansion is done.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
ScottCLT Burg

ScottCLT

Posted
Posted

I just did a case study on the Denver Airport for school. That built from scratch airport was a nightmare to build and was 4 BILLION dollars over budget. It looks like a beautiful airport, but I would rather have a no frills airport than an airport than a beautiful airport with MASSIVE debt.

And I would rather have a no frills airport than one that is 25 miles from the city. Think about it - that would be like having Charlotte's airport in Mooresville. Washington Dulles, Houston, and Dallas are pretty much just as bad if they are your final destination.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
cltbwimob Burg

cltbwimob

Posted
Posted (edited)

According to a newspaper in Philadelphia, US Airways has requested a route authorization for CLT-LHR. I do not know if this is in addition to LGW or it's just a transfer of the flight's terminating point.

http://articles.philly.com/2012-09-06/business/33651275_1_philadelphia-flight-business-travel-new-daily-nonstop-service

Edited by cltbwimob
Link to comment
Share on other sites
LKN704 Burg

LKN704

Posted
Posted

If US Airways is awarded CLT-LHR, CLT-LGW will terminate.

On a different note, I have noticed that they have added more "compass signs" at the entrances to Concourses A, B, and C, as well as near the security checkpoints. These are the same signs as the ones near Concourse D/E as well as in the parking garage. They look good IMO.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
  • 3 weeks later...

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
 Share
Go to topic listing

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.